PART III – Civil Society Participation When the state concerned is a party to ICERD,72 there are several ways in which civil society actors can engage with the Committee and its work, in particular 1) in the course of States reporting cycle, 2) under individual communication procedure, 3) under the Early Warning mechanism and Urgent procedure, and 4) through thematic discussions. Usually NGOs and other stakeholders do not need any ECOSOC consultative status to use these opportunities. For example, civil society actors can: 1. In the course of State reporting cycle: A) Before the consideration of State report concerned:
Participate in the preparation of the State report.
Provide information for the list of themes.
Prepare and submit an alternative report.
Submit their own answers to the list of themes. B) During the CERD session:
Organise an informal briefing to CERD members.
Lobby in Geneva.
Observe the CERD sessions. C) Follow-up - After the consideration of the State report concerned:
Monitor implementation.
Lobby national governments.
Disseminate information and raise awareness. 2. Submit Individual Communication under Article 14 3. Submit information under Early Warning measures and Urgent Procedure 4. Submit information to and/or participate in thematic discussions In any case when civil society actors wish to submit information to the Committee and take full advantage of available opportunities, their engagement and information should be laid out in a constructive and nonadversarial manner. To increase the effectiveness of civil society participation, information submitted should be as precise, concise and accurate as possible, with clear reference to the concrete articles of ICERD. Besides providing the Committee with information, NGOs and other civil society actors, especially those active at national and grassroots levels, can also disseminate information on ICERD and CERD in general or on a specific state report for consideration in their society. In order to make the best use of existing opportunities, civil society actors can take up issues from their society to the Committee, bring back the outcome, and create or facilitate actual changes in the lives of those who are facing issues of racial discrimination. CERD Secretariat Contact:73 Secretariat of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Human Rights Treaty Division (HRTD), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson – 52, rue des Pâquis Geneva, Switzerland Tel.: +41 22 917 9440 Fax.: +41 22 917 9008 E-mail: cerd@ohchr.org Mailing address: CERD Secretariat, UNOG-OHCHR 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, CH- 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland 72 To check whether the state concerned is a party to the ICERD, please refer to the Annex I or the website of the UN Treaty Collection: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-2&chapter=4&lang=en 73 For up to date information, please see: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/contact.htm, or the document “Information for NGOs” uploaded at each CERD session page 24 ICERD: A GUIDE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS