Glossary Concluding Observations Collective and official observations and recommendations issued by a Treaty Body to a State party after the State report concerned has been considered (For CERD’s concluding observation please see PART II 2.1 e) of this Guide). Country Rapporteur A CERD member designated for consideration of each State party report. The Country Rapporteur plays a leading role in: i) drafting “List of Themes”, ii) the examination of the report, and iii) the preparation of the relevant concluding observations. (ref. PART II 2.1 c) of this Guide) General Recommendations CERD’s interpretation of the articles of ICERD issued for assisting States parties in interpreting articles of ICERD and implementing their obligations. Other Treaty Bodies also refer to these as General Comments. (ref. PART II 2.4 of this Guide) Human Rights Council (HRC) A UN inter-governmental human rights body responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights, a subsidiary organ of UN GA. List of themes A list of themes / topics issued by CERD to each State before the consideration of its report, practiced since CERD’s 77th session. (ref. PART II 2.1 c) of this Guide) Reservation A unilateral statement, however phrased or named, made by a State, when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a treaty, whereby it purports to exclude or to modify the legal effect of certain provisions of the treaty in their application to that State Review procedure A procedure by which the Committee considers a country situation without an up-to-date state report (ref. PART II 2.1 g) of this Guide) Treaty Bodies: The human rights treaty bodies (also called UN Treaty Bodies) are committees of independent experts that monitor implementation of international human rights treaties. States parties States that have ratified or otherwise expressed their consent to be legally bound by the international treaty concerned vi ICERD & CERD: A GUIDE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS