A/HRC/60/62 acknowledged the important contribution of civil society and emphasized that the committees must be vigilant and responsive to the issue of intimidation and reprisals.15 10. In its 2024 report to the General Assembly, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture noted that some of its grantees continued to face reprisals for their work with United Nations human rights mechanisms, including the Fund. It also stated that, where required to ensure continued delivery of services to torture survivors, its response included the awarding of emergency grants to current grantees subjected to restrictive or retaliatory measures (such as reprisals for collaborating with the United Nations) resulting from the implementation of their projects.16 11. Ahead of the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN-Women reminded participants of the United Nations zero-tolerance approach to all forms of intimidation and reprisals against those engaging with the United Nations and encouraged them to report any such incidents using a dedicated email address. UN-Women sent a survey to 55 women civil society representatives who had briefed the Security Council in 2024. Out of 25 respondents, 7 reported reprisal concerns in connection with their respective briefings to the Council. 12. The World Bank continued its efforts to track and respond to credible allegations of reprisals in the context of the projects it supports. By April 2025, the Inspection Panel had received 175 requests for inspection, corresponding to 152 Panel cases. Of those, 62 cases (41 per cent) included allegations of reprisals, 75 cases (49 per cent) contained requests for confidentiality and 47 cases (31 per cent) included both. The number of allegations of reprisals and requests for confidentiality in investigations has continued to rise in recent years, as also documented in the December 2021 Inspection Panel report on reprisal incidents.17 III. Policy developments and good practices 13. In March 2025, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights sent a questionnaire to Member States on good practices to prevent and address reprisals for cooperation with the United Nations. A group of Member States reaffirmed their zero-tolerance approach to intimidation and reprisals aimed at ensuring a safe and enabling environment for civil society participation at the United Nations. They highlighted their ongoing practice of issuing joint statements in multilateral forums, including the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, that describe, with the informed consent of those concerned, cases of reprisals for cooperation with the United Nations from different regions and noted their practice of tracking the impact of the interventions. 14. To protect victims who allegedly face intimidation and reprisals, including for cooperation with the United Nations, one Member State noted the issuance of a directive updating guidelines on the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed against human rights defenders, along with a guide highlighting best practices in the investigation and prosecution of threats against them. The same Member State noted the existence of a national protection unit with the authority to protect individuals who were at extraordinary or extreme risk, such as members of human rights organizations. Another Member State launched a pilot programme to host, for a period of time, a number of human rights defenders facing threats, harassment and risk to their lives (including for cooperation with the United Nations), thus enabling them to safely continue their work and engage with local networks.18 15. Several Member States reported normative or institutional developments that were aimed at protecting civil society actors, including from reprisals for cooperating with the United Nations. One noted the issuance of a directive on the right to social protest, 15 Ibid., paras. 44 and 47–49. A/HRC/58/31, paras. 5 and 25. 17 See https://www.inspectionpanel.org/sites/default/files/publications/Emerging-Lessons-Series-07Intimidation-and-reprisals-in-IPN-Cases-Dec2021_0.pdf. 18 See https://artistsatrisk.org/2025/06/17/new-pilot-programme-for-protecting-human-rights-defendershrds/?lang=en. 16 4