HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS Highlights of pillar results Participation (P) PILLAR RESULTS / SHIFTS / SDGs RESULTS / SPOTLIGHTS P1 UN Human Rights continued its long-standing engagement with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). On 17 July, following a selection process that took more than one year, the President appointed nine new commissioners (four women, five men), including the new Chair, Shaharzad Akbar. UN Human Rights continued to cooperate with the AIHRC on issues related to its pending re-accreditation by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). As a result, the AIHRC was re-accredited with “A” status by the GANHRI Sub-Committee on Accreditations, in November. The AIHRC held public hearings across 33 provinces, in March and April, as part of its National Inquiry on the Role of Women in Peace and Security in Afghanistan. The hearings provided women in these provinces with an opportunity to raise their concerns regarding political participation and peace-related processes. The AIHRC produced a summary of these concerns, as well as recommendations to policymakers and other stakeholders. AIHRC attended hearings in Kabul, Bamyan, Herat, Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where it advocated for the promotion of human and women’s rights in peace and security efforts. Stronger laws, policies and practices protect the right to participate and civic space, including online, and the environment for civil society is increasingly safe and enabling. Spotlights: Youth Disabilities Women The Office supported the Government of Ethiopia to revise its draft legislation on NGOs, adopted in March. This major achievement led to a significant widening of the space within which civil society can engage in human rights work. For instance, in May, UN Human Rights convened an unprecedented countrywide gathering of CSOs to discuss, among other issues, efforts to build a strong and effective constituency of human rights CSOs and to identify how UN Human Rights can enhance the capacity of CSOs to engage and work on human rights in the country following years of repression of civil space in the country. P2 The UN system and international, regional and national mechanisms provide increased, timely and effective protection to civil society organizations and individuals (including from reprisals). 56 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2019 Shifts: The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders participated in the implementation of the global communication campaign on the twentieth anniversary of the UN Declaration on human rights defenders, which was launched in December 2018. The website established for the occasion (https://togetherwedefend.org/) included stories of HRDs that had been champions in protecting civic space in various regions of the world and focused on a variety of human rights issues. The digital campaign featured a flagship video that told the story of grassroots and high profile defenders around the world, two made-for-social videos, campaign branding, an interactive website to showcase the stories of 10 HRDs, including a tool to send a message of solidarity to a defender, and a digital toolkit to enable partners to share the campaign materials on social media. The Special Rapporteur met with HRDs from around the world and devoted his report to the General Assembly to the persistent impunity for human rights violations committed against HRDs. The findings of the report are the result of extensive consultations with HRDs that have taken place since the beginning of his mandate, five regional consultations held in 2018 and 2019, the review of communications sent by the Special Rapporteur and 71 submissions collected through a survey. Global Constituency Prevention Civic Space