Implementation Guidelines for Regional Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders system where information from the petitioner can be submitted (name, identity number, telephone, postal address, sex, citizenship, age, education, occupation, district and subdistrict). Once the information is filled out, an account number is assigned to that complaint. The database system can then generate reports and categorise them into civil, political, economic, social, cultural rights or group rights.138 ii. Reporting as a form of engagement Reports can also be used as a form of engagement with the international human rights system in order to develop standards on the protection of HRDs.139 There are multiple ways to do so (discussed in detail in National Action 7), including:140 • Contributing to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of your country. • Contribute independently to the reporting process under human rights treaties or submitting alternative and “shadow” reports. • Follow up on recommendations made by regional and international human rights mechanisms. In some cases, NHRIs are invited to participate in the preparation of reports by the government presented to UN human rights bodies. Such is the case of Benin’s NHRI.141 C. Include HRDs chapter in NHRI annual reports Reports are an important way to raise awareness on the situation of HRDs and the challenges they face in their work.142 In this vein, including a chapter on the situation of HRDs in your annual reports is a simple and effective means of ensuring ongoing reporting and engagement. Such chapter could indicate the dynamics and characteristics of threats faced by HRDs, the strengths and vulnerabilities of HRDs, the institutional mechanisms available for their protection and the amount of alerts activated/deactivated, among other things. It should also include recommendations for relevant stakeholders, particularly the government. This requires data collection and analysis (see National Action 5). Case study: The Peruvian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has a division for HRDs, which is tasked with publishing annual reports on the situation of HRDs. The purpose of the report is to highlight risk situations and the attack patterns faced by HRDs at the local, regional and national levels, with an emphasis on HRDs from vulnerable groups.143 44 138 https://ganhri.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/English-Mapping-Survey-on-Complaints-Haldling-Systems-Final.pdf p.25 139 https://ganhri.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/DIMR_GANHRI-CSW-Report_final-BF.pdf p.14 140 https://ganhri.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/GANHRI-UNICEF-Children%E2%80%99s-Rights-in-National-Human-Rights-Institutions.pdf p.34 141 https://ganhri.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/English-Mapping-Survey-on-Complaints-Haldling-Systems-Final.pdf p.17 142 https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/22/47 par. 101 143 https://cdn.www.gob.pe/uploads/document/file/310740/RM_159_2019_JUS.pdf art. 6.2.2