Our Collective Conscience •  Europe and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders. The Focal Point monitors the situation of human rights defenders, identifies issues of concern to them, and promotes their interests by: • • • • • • • • Assessing the needs of national human rights institutions and human rights defenders and the prevailing circumstances as they affect civil society; Promoting interaction between national human rights institutions and human rights defenders; Supporting OSCE missions to strengthen their engagement with human rights defenders and national human rights institutions; Working closely with other relevant intergovernmental agencies and national and international NGOs involved in supporting the work of human rights defenders and national human rights institutions; Assisting in the development of independent national human rights institutions that are capable of upholding human rights standards, investigating individual complaints of breaches of human rights, and making recommendations for the resolution of the same; Giving support to, and strengthening the operational capacity of, human rights defenders; Fostering interaction and co-operation between national human rights institutions and human rights defenders; and Assisting participating States to create an environment in which civil society may flourish. These efforts are inherent in the wider context of ODIHR’s activities supporting authorities and civil society to ensure the effective implementation of human dimension commitments. Specific activities include: Training for personnel at national human rights institutions Providing training aimed at establishing and strengthening the independence of national human rights institutions, consistent with the Paris Principles,117 and building their capacity to promote and protect human rights generally, including through partnerships with civil society and other national human rights institutions. 117 UN GA, Resolution 48/134, “Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions”, A/RES/48/134, 20 December 1993.