A. Introduction 1. This year the Commission has worked with a variety of organisationsi to provide information about New Zealand’s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to civil society in order to encourage their active and productive participation in the process. In addition the Commission worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Trade to deliver appropriate and transparent consultation on the State’s report. 2. The Commission has sought input and comments from NGOs, human rights experts, Māori organisations and members of the community on its proposed submission to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).The Commission has also worked together with various groups to contribute to the preparation of submissions including: • • • the organisations responsible for monitoring places of detention in New Zealand under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture: the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, the Independent Police Conduct Authority, and the Inspector of Service Penal Establishments (the OPCAT National Preventative Mechanism); the organisations mandated to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): the Office of the Ombudsman and the New Zealand Convention Coalition (the CRPD Monitoring Mechanism); and the non-government sector group established by the Children’s Commissioner in February 2011 to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC): the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, UNICEF NZ, Save the Children NZ, Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa, the Child Poverty Action Group, and Every Child Counts (the UNCROC Monitoring Group). Attached as Annexes 2 to 4 are copies of these submissions. The Commission endorses the recommendations made in these submissions. B. Follow up to UPR and Treaty Body recommendations 3. During New Zealand’s first UPR the HRC recommended that New Zealand “ensure regular consultation with civil society in the follow-up to the UPR recommendations.”ii 4. Since New Zealand’s first UPR, New Zealand has been reviewed by the Human Rights Committee,iii the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC),iv the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR),v the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),vi and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).vii Page 21 of 35