HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS Theresia Degener, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, at the tenth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York, June 2017. © UN Photo/Kim Haughton Niger submitted its overdue reports to CEDAW, while the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) submitted 32 initial and periodic reports to various human rights treaty bodies and all PICs completed their second UPR cycle in full compliance with their reporting obligations under this mechanism. Engagement with the special procedures Special procedures mandate-holders carried out 87  country visits to 67 States and territories. One more Member State extended a standing invitation in 2017, namely, Afghanistan, bringing the total number of States that have done so to 118. Mandate-holders transmitted a total of 534 communications to 117 States, of which 423 were jointly issued by two or more mandate-holders. The response rate of States to these communications reached 68 per cent. In addition, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances transmitted 990 new cases of enforced disappearance to States, of which 111 were clarified with two individuals being released. In 2017, Member States reacted to findings and recommendations issued by the special procedures. For example, during a country visit by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples to Australia, in March, she raised her concerns about the lack of adequate legal aid and the impact of Government’s funding cuts on organizations providing indigenous peoples with legal aid. In part due to this, the Government announced, in May, that it would reverse the budget cuts to indigenous legal aid organizations. In July, a number of special procedures mandate-holders sent a communication to the Government of Turkey to raise their concerns about the arrests, incommunicado de- tentions and investigations of 11 human rights defenders and experts based on their suspected membership in terrorist organizations. On 25 October, 10 of the 11 defenders were released, although they still face terrorism charges. During the year, non-State actors also engaged with the special procedures. For example, the sixth Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights, held in November, and chaired by the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, brought together more than 2,500 participants from nearly 130 countries, making it the largest global event on business and human rights ever held. Engagement of rights-holders with international human rights mechanisms Civil society actors, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and others engaged with the international human rights mechanisms to direct the attention of the international community towards human rights issues of concern at the national and regional levels. In 2017, the participation of non-governmental organizations in HRC sessions remained very high with an increase of 14 per cent in the number of oral statements delivered (2,361) and six per cent in the submission of written statements (583). In addition, more than 75 side events were organized in parallel with sessions of the Council. NGOs and other actors, including UN entities, made almost 1,300 submissions to the UPR. Specifically, civil society organizations submitted alternative reports in relation to the reviews of Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana in 2017 and 2018, respectively; 12 NGOs pre- UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2017 11