PART II – CERD AND ITS WORK provide their comments thereon. After comments by States parties are appropriately reflected, concluding observations are published on the CERD website, normally after the closure of each session. Comments from the relevant States parties on the concluding observations are listed in the CERD’s annual report. In most cases concluding observations consist of three parts: A. Introduction; B. Positive aspects; and C. Concerns and recommendations. In specific cases, a chapter on “Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Convention” is inserted between introduction and positive aspects. The final paragraph of the concluding observations gives the date by which the next report should be submitted by the State party concerned. f) Follow-up procedure to concluding observations Pursuant to Article 9 of ICERD and rule 65 of the rules of procedure of the Committee, CERD may request the State party concerned to submit an additional report or information on specific topics following consideration of the state report. If the Committee decides so, it usually indicates in its concluding observations the topics as well as the manner and time (mostly one year) within which such report or information should be provided. At its 64th session (2004) CERD adopted a second paragraph to rule 65, which provides for the appointment of a coordinator, in order to more effectively conduct this follow-up procedure. The coordinator (or its alternative) cooperates with the respective Country Rapporteur and is mandated to monitor the follow-up by States parties on the observations and recommendations of the Committee. According to its terms of reference,58 the coordinator will among others: • • • monitor the deadline for the submission of additional report i.e. information by the State party; analyse and assess the information received, if necessary, recommend the Committee to take appropriate action; and report on the progress to the Committee. The Committee holds closed meetings to discuss the findings of the coordinator and adopt formal recommendations or decisions on further action. The coordinator’s findings are included in CERD’s annual report. In addition, the Committee issued guidelines59 for States parties to facilitate their follow up activities. According to the guidelines States parties should effectively follow-up the concluding observations of CERD through e.g.: • • • • Dissemination of the concluding observations; Coordination of implementation efforts and designation of a focal point/liaison person; Regular reporting on progress; Cooperation with NHRIs and NGOs. g) Review Procedure (review in the absence of an up-to-date state report) Though it is their obligation, not all the States parties submit their initial or periodic reports in a timely manner or at all. In order to deal with the cases where a state report is significantly overdue, the Committee decided at its 39th session (1991) to review the implementation of the Convention in the country concerned, even in the absence of an up-to-date state report. In such case the previous state reports are used as a basis and other relevant information is taken into account (this is known as a review procedure). A letter is sent to the State party, whose report is overdue by five years, informing it that the review will take place, and later the exact date is communicated; state representatives are then invited to attend the meeting. At its 49th session, the Committee further decided that States parties whose initial reports were overdue by five years or more would also be scheduled for a review procedure. In such cases the Committee would consider all 58 59 CERD/C/66/Misc. 11/Rev.2 CERD/C/68/Misc.5/Rev.1 16 ICERD & CERD: A GUIDE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS