A/HRC/42/30 stressed the “vital contribution” of civil society and noted that “it is up to us to provide them with enough safe space to make these contributions”.6 7. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organized activities to consult directly with partners and victims under the leadership of the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, the senior official designated to lead efforts to address intimidation and reprisals. In December 2018, OHCHR convened a consultation in New York with legal and academic experts to examine legislative and policy measures used to restrict engagement with the United Nations. Following regional consultations with civil society in South-East Asia and Central Asia in 2018, OHCHR engaged with members of civil society from 10 East African countries in Nairobi in May 2019. 8. OHCHR made efforts to implement the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), OHCHR and Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions guidelines on reprisals and intimidation (see A/74/226, paras. 80–86). Specific cases related to national human rights institutions are noted in the present report and the issue was mentioned in the Marrakech Declaration adopted by the Global Alliance in October 2018.7 In September 2019, the Human Rights Council, in its resolution 39/17, recognized the role that national human rights institutions could play in “preventing and addressing cases of reprisal as part of supporting the cooperation between States and the United Nations” and stressed that such institutions “should not face any form of reprisal or intimidation”.8 9. In April 2019, OHCHR began structured consultations within the United Nations Secretariat, agencies, funds and programmes to improve the gathering of information on existing guidance, resources and policies and to discuss recommendations. It also made efforts to improve cross-regional information-sharing and analysis with regional intergovernmental organizations and multilateral development banks, including the Council of Europe. 10. Pursuant to a request from the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (see E/2018/43-E/C.19/2018/11, para. 14), on 24 April 2019 the Assistant Secretary-General addressed the widespread intimidation of and reprisals against indigenous peoples. He encouraged more regular reporting, documentation of incidents online and analysis of how national laws and policies affected the engagement of indigenous peoples with the United Nations.9 The Permanent Forum urged reporting to [email protected] (see E/2019/43E/C.19/2019/10, para. 71). 11. In October 2018, the World Bank and OHCHR co-organized a round table on reprisals for multilateral development banks and their independent accountability mechanisms, the first of its kind. In April 2019, OHCHR co-organized, with the InterAmerican Development Bank Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism, a round table on the risk of reprisals in development finance. At the meeting, the High Commissioner noted the potentially powerful impact of prevention through a “‘zero tolerance’ policy on reprisals, backed up by action”. She stressed that “repression is increasingly being undertaken through the deliberate application, or better said misapplication, of national laws, including with respect to non-governmental organization (NGO) registration and regulation, financing restrictions, abridgements of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and abuse of anti-terrorist laws”.10 12. In response to the request by the Chairs of the treaty bodies to identify good practices and enhance the role of focal points and rapporteurs,11 OHCHR and the 6 7 8 9 10 11 http://webtv.un.org/search/decisions-and-conclusions-closing-55th-meeting-40th-regular-sessionhuman-rights-council-/6016988741001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Regular%2040th% 20session&sort=date&page=1. https://nhri.ohchr.org/EN/ICC/InternationalConference/13IC/Background%20Information/ Marrakech%20Declaration_EN_%2012102018%20-%20FINAL.pdf. Human Rights Council resolution 39/17, para. 4; see also General Assembly resolution 72/181, paras. 6 and 11. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24513&LangID=E. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24486&LangID=E. See A/73/140, para. 78, and HRI/MC/2018/CRP.2. 3