Part 2 — The contribution of NGOs to CERD’s work W ithin the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and its subsidiary organs such as the Commission on Human Rights, NGOs can obtain consultative status which means that they can become an integral part of the working procedure of those bodies.33 However, most of the UN treaty bodies, CERD included, are not UN organs in the formal sense. Despite having strong links with the UN, which provides them with Secretariat services, they have been created by the treaties themselves and the rules on consultative status do not apply to them. Consequently, no formal relationship exists between CERD and NGOs. While this relationship is informal, the importance of NGOs contributions has been acknowledged by CERD. Increasingly, members of CERD make public use of information they have received or gathered from nongovernmental sources in their consideration of the states reports. Although the flow of information that reaches members is not systematically collected, channeled or analysed, the Anti-Racism Information Service (ARIS)34 — an NGO based in Geneva — has undertaken the task of connecting human rights groups with members of CERD and of assisting the latter in their search for relevant information. What members of CERD need is a more complete picture of the situation than is provided in the official report of a state party. In other words, NGOs should look into questions such as: are there any gaps in the official report; are there misrepresentations; are the assumptions, the analyses and the emphases correct? Besides providing the Committee with information, NGOs, especially those active at a national level, can also disseminate information on ICERD or its reporting process among their members and the general public in a country. NGOs can take up issues that are of particular importance to them and appraise specific comments made by the Committee members on matters regarding a state s compliance (or non-compliance) with ICERD. Where a government may be slow in implementing recommended changes in its law, policy and practice, NGOs can be of service to the public in influencing such changes. 1. Reporting procedure W hen an NGO provides information to CERD, it is important, in the interest of the Committee and the NGO, that the information is submitted in the most effective manner. As practice has shown, a simple submission of random cases or articles to the Committee does not normally have a great impact. It may also happen that the abundance of information can be a problem. A welldeveloped strategy is necessary. The best option is to produce a supplementary report — also called shadow , counter or alternative report. There are two ways of approaching such a report; the first is to draw up a comprehensive report that considers each point of the state report and offers supplementary or contradicting information. This requires a lot of time and resources, but it seems to be the most effective way to provide information and has a high probability of getting the Committee s attention. The second approach, for those NGOs which are not capable of bringing together the necessary resources, and/or whose activities are limited in certain fields or areas, would be to target specific issues of concern — such as those affecting particular groups, or specific fields such as education, employment or working conditions. Concerning the production of a report, we have collected some useful advice by consulting CERD members and by soliciting the experience of other NGOs. A. Steps to be taken prior to CERD’s consideration of the state report When is a state report due? —As explained earlier in this manual, an initial report is due one year after the Convention s entry into force for the state party concerned, and periodic reports are due every two years afterwards. Information as to when a state report is or was due may be obtained from the government concerned. Alternatively, NGOs can contact the CERD Secretariat, or consult the Treaty Body Database on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (www.unhchr.ch). Has the report been already sent? — Contact the government authority that is in charge of preparing an official report to CERD (very often the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to find out whether the state report has already been sent or when the government plans to submit it to the Committee. If the report is still being prepared, ICERD: A GUIDE FOR NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 11