A common way for NHRIs to reach out to rural or remote areas is through the establishment of regional offices, meaning offices in places other than the NHRI’s main seat, usually in the capital city of that country. The majority of respondent NHRIs that participated in the survey (26 out of 38) reported to have regional offices. Some institutions, for example the NHRIs of Malaysia and of Bangladesh, explicitly confirmed that their regional offices specifically target women and girls in rural areas. The regional offices of the NHRI of Colombia each have a psycho-legal team consisting of one lawyer and one social worker (“dupla de género”) who work on women’s rights issues in rural areas. Regional offices may also be in a better position to reach out to the rural population because of linguistic differences. The NHRI of the Philippines pointed out that the regional offices make use of local languages within their respective jurisdictions. Another way to reach out is through collaboration with NGOs that specifically work on the rights of women and girls living in rural areas. The NHRI of Burundi has worked with such organizations on monitoring and access to justice initiatives and the Algerian NHRI was involved in a project for the economic empowerment of women and girls through alphabetization, which was carried out by local associations having gained the trust of the rural population. The NHRI of Tunisia has also collaborated with organizations concerned with the rights of women living in rural areas and the NHRI of New Zealand has partnered with the charitable organization Rural Women New Zealand, and Fonterra (New Zealand's largets dairy cooperative) to present a parallel event to CSW62 about the opportunities for economic empowerment for women living in rural areas. Many NHRIs reported that they travel extensively to rural areas, for example in order to hold events which specifically deal with the rights of women and girls: - - - The NHRI of the Maldives addresses the discrimination faced by women and girls living in rural areas through sessions and discussion platforms carried out by human rights clinics. These clinics provide information to women and girls in rural areas, for example on the issue of domestic violence. In 2017, the NHRI of Côte d’Ivoire, in collaboration with UN Women, organized events in rural areas in order to offer plain-language information on CEDAW and the Maputo protocol. It also held an event for the commemoration of the International Day of Rural Women (October 15th). The Jordanian NHRI implemented a project on the protection of women and girls from gender-based violence that targeted women and girls in remote areas of the Mafraq and Zarqa governorates through the implementation of training workshops on international standards and local legislation for the protection of women and girls against violence. Finally, outreach may also mean making the information and services offered by NHRIs easily accessible for women and girls in rural areas, for example through the institution’s online presence. This is particularly important for women and girls seeking access to justice for human rights violations. The survey showed that all of the respondent NHRIs, with the exception of the French NHRI, have the mandate to receive individual complaints, and some NHRIs, such as the NHRI of Honduras, specifically mentioned that they receive complaints from women living in rural areas. The following examples show how NHRIs attempt to eliminate or attenuate rurality as a barrier to accessing justice. - The Finnish NHRI explains that 70% of all complaints received by the Parliamentary Ombudsman are now transmitted by email. A focal point for urgent complaints was set up by the NHRI of India. The focal point can be reached by phone at all times – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. The NHRI of New Zealand also has a free phone line which can be accessed from anywhere in the country by persons wishing to file an individual complaint with the NHRI. The Romanian NHRI, like a number of European NHRIs, participated in the CLARITY project (“Complaints, Legal Assistance and Rights Information Tool for You”) launched in 2015 by the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union. The CLARITY tool provides information 6