A/HRC/52/38 between actors, to facilitate greater effectiveness. One set of methods concern those of diplomacy, which will be considered below. 1. Monitoring, assessing and reporting 57. Monitoring, assessing and reporting may take the form of annual reporting or assessments, 60 aimed at early warning, with the objective of de-escalation, whether of individual cases or systemic issues, so that appropriate61 and timely action can be taken. They can draw from country fact-finding visits.62 2. Bilateral engagement and political dialogue 58. In the context of behind-the-scenes bilateral diplomacy, freedom of religion or belief concerns, whether individual or systemic cases, can be raised and compliance with international standards encouraged through trusted partners. Such engagement may also relate to the support of the mandate, for example to allow country visits or the implementation of recommendations or to raise relevant recommendations emanating from the universal periodic review and the treaty bodies.63 59. State visits and official occasions offer a similar opportunity to raise freedom of religion or belief concerns and priorities and to engage with relevant authorities and human rights defenders. 60. There are also formal bilateral agreements that are focused on aspects of freedom of religion or belief. A case in point are the concordats agreed by the Holy See and Governments to advance interests and freedoms concerning the Catholic Church and community. They consider the corporate right of the Church as a community and include, among other things, freedom of worship and the maintenance of churches and other Catholic properties and schools. 3. Multilateral forums 61. Objectives are also advanced in multilateral fora, notably the United Nations. This includes the drafting and adoption of annual resolutions, the extension of the mandate and the diplomatic investments that allow for the continuity and support of all freedom of religion or belief work. Bodies such as the International Contact Group and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance work year-round, with the United Nations and other entities, to support such promotion alongside other objectives. Their initiatives include social media engagement giving early warning on individual cases, systemic patterns of violations and grave violations based on religion or belief. They also advocate for prisoners of conscience targeted for their religion or belief, calling for their release and the amelioration of their situation. 62. There are also multilateral initiatives and envoys that focus on particular matters within the broader freedom of religion or belief arena, such as countering intolerance and discrimination, incitement to violence and violence based on religion or belief and hatred targeting particular groups.64 60 61 62 63 64 12 A case in point is the Humanists International “Freedom of thought report”, in which it offers an assessment of the human rights and legal status of humanists, atheists and the non-religious. Available from https://humanists.international/what-we-do/freedom-of-thought-report/. See https://www.stefanus.no/english/regional-analyses/. See https://www.ippforb.com/our-work/fact-finding. See https://um.dk/en/foreign-policy/office-of-the-special-representative-for-freedom-of-religions-orbelief/parliamentary-debate-on-the-status-of-the-danish-forb-initiative. For example, the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Combating Anti-Semitism, the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office on combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions and the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims. The Council of Europe, and some States, have similar appointees. GE.23-00741