of NGO information is now much more accepted; however, some committees and committee members are more open to NGO information than others. In examining state reports, the treaty bodies undertake an important role in terms of advising states on how to improve compliance with the international standards to which they have subscribed. The treaty bodies are not tribunals, and the Concluding Observations are not legally binding and cannot be enforced. The Conventions, however, are binding and states often accept committee advice as they stand to gain credibility with the international community by engaging in dialogue with the committees, by showing good faith and by acknowledging problem areas where they have not fully succeeded in fulfilling their obligations. NGOs have a role at all stages of the reporting process. You can find the reporting history of states on the OHCHR website: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/ RepStatfrset?OpenFrameSet. You can also contact the treaty body secretariats for information. Governments are often late in submitting reports and NGOs may pressure them to submit overdue reports. Sometimes NGOs are consulted during the drafting of the state report. If the government is not interested in consulting NGOs or it has not included issues of concern to your NGO in the state report, NGOs can submit written information directly to the committee in the form of a ‘shadow report’ (also referred to as a ‘parallel report’ or ‘alternative report’). NGOs can submit this information to treaty bodies whether or not they have ECOSOC status. Once the state has submitted a report the committee will decide at which session it will be considered. The time between the submission and the consideration of reports depends on whether or not the committee has a backlog. State reports are available on the OHCHR website once they have been edited and translated into the UN languages. You could also contact the government office responsible for preparing the report (often the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to request a copy. The CERD, CESCR and HRC have started to examine the situation in states whose reports are seriously overdue. In these cases, where there is no state report to guide the committee, NGO information is even more important and provides an ‘unofficial’ evaluation of the country situation. The CERD has ‘early-warning measures’ that allow the committee to examine a situation with a view to preventing existing problems from escalating into conflict, and ‘urgent procedures’ that mean the committee can take action to prevent or limit violations. Under both these procedures, the CERD examines a state without a report. Early-warning and urgent procedures can only be taken up when a committee member requests it. NGOs can lobby members to have a particular issue considered, for example by writing to committee members through the secretariat. Previous situations considered under early-warning measures include the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and the Great Lakes region of Africa. Cases examined under urgent procedures include Australia’s amendment of the Native Title Act, considered discriminatory against indigenous peoples, and the situation of the Hmong in Laos. NGOs can submit information to the committees alone or as part of a coalition of NGOs. The latter can be more effective. Committee members are more likely to read one coordinated NGO report than many reports from different NGOs; further, several NGOs speaking with one voice adds strength to the arguments being presented, and avoids duplication of work. However, it may not be possible to work as a coalition because NGOs can have diverse or conflicting views. In this case, it may be necessary to submit different reports. It is important to organize the submission of a shadow report well in advance of the committee session. Often NGOs work very hard to produce a report but it does not get to the committee members in time. It is more important to submit some information, even if the report is not complete, than to miss the deadline. NGOs can submit information on particular aspects or Articles of the treaty, or produce a comprehensive report along the same lines as the state report. The type of report an NGO produces will depend on their areas of focus and the time and resources (both financial and human) available. Be realistic about what is possible. All committees have one member to act as ‘Country Rapporteur’ for each state report. With the exception of the CEDAW and HRC the Country Rapporteur’s name is publicly known and you can ask the secretariat whether it is possible for you to contact him/her directly. Some committees prepare a ‘list of issues’ at a working group prior to the session when the state report will be examined. This list gives an idea of the committee’s concerns and NGOs should try to ensure that their shadow report is received by the committee before this time so that issues raised in the shadow report can be included in the list of issues sent to the state. The CEDAW, CESCR, CRC and HRC permit NGOs to make a presentation to the working group.9 With the exception of the CEDAW and CERD, the committee secretariat prepares a ‘country profile’ containing relevant information for the committee members. The CAT, CESCR and CRC secretariats will include information from NGO shadow reports in the country profiles if received early enough. NGO information received later will be given to committee members at 12 MINORITY RIGHTS: A GUIDE TO UNITED NATIONS PROCEDURES AND INSTITUTIONS NGOs and treaty monitoring 8