A/HRC/36/31 7. Within the United Nations system, initiatives have also been taken to raise awareness about this issue; for example, in the guidance note on human rights for Resident Coordinators and United Nations country teams for 2016, the important role that field presences play in the context of addressing reprisals and intimidation was specifically identified. The note also underlined the fact that addressing the risk of reprisals and protecting the safety of individuals requires a coordinated and unified response by Resident Coordinators and United Nations country teams, including by calling upon the United Nations Development Group and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) where necessary. 8. To build upon the ongoing work of these other actors, in this initial phase of his work, the designated senior official leading efforts within the United System is focusing on three areas: (a) enhancing high-level engagement on the issue of reprisals, including to prevent them and ensure appropriate action when they are committed, in particular urgent cases; (b) developing a more comprehensive response for preventing and addressing intimidation and reprisals throughout the United Nations system; and (c) ensuring cooperation with all actors, especially Member States and civil society actors, in strengthening the efforts already under way. 9. As an essential aspect of his activities, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights has addressed specific situations and individual cases with Member States in intergovernmental forums and through quiet diplomacy with the Governments concerned. This engagement has involved the Human Rights Council, the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, as well as Permanent Representatives to the United Nations. Relying on information received from United Nations partners, human rights mechanisms, civil society and directly from individuals and groups affected, he has raised specific urgent cases, persistent patterns of intimidation and reprisal, situations where action by other actors has not produced any tangible change, and other incidents at Headquarters and during field visits. 10. The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights has also engaged in outreach to human rights bodies and mechanisms, such as the President of the Human Rights Council, the special procedures, treaty bodies, the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General and Resident Coordinators, human rights focal points throughout the United Nations Secretariat, and United Nations agencies, funds and programmes. A mapping exercise of existing response mechanisms among United Nations entities has been initiated, and will inform the development of a more comprehensive system for documenting and responding to cases of intimidation and reprisal throughout the Organization. 11. To ensure the visibility and accessibility of the work on intimidation and reprisals and the activities of the United Nations human rights mechanisms in this regard, a dedicated website was launched in June 2017, including on how to submit information to relevant bodies.2 Special procedures have also launched their own page on this issue. III. Ensuring access to the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights 12. The previous Secretary-General raised the role of the Committee on NonGovernmental Organizations, which considers applications for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, in previous reports. He urged the Committee to apply the criteria for assessing organizations in a fair and transparent manner, given that civil society organizations provide an indispensable contribution to the work and very purposes of the United Nations, which would be impossible without their access to international meetings at United Nations premises and their ability to engage directly with human rights mechanisms. This issue was addressed by special procedure mandate holders in a letter in April 2017 to the Committee (A/HRC/36/25, para. 13, OTH 5/2017), in which they raised concerns about the Committee’s decisions regarding the granting of accreditation to civil society organizations, and about their working methods in general, which could, according to the mandate holders, may hamper civil society access to the United Nations, and thus will affect their participation. 2 4 See OHCHR webpage, “Acts of intimidation and reprisal for cooperation with the United Nations in the field of human rights” (www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Reprisals/Pages/ReprisalsIndex.aspx).