56 PROMOTING AND PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS “positive measures” adopted by the State to preserve those minorities’ identities, and describe any measures taken “to provide minorities with equal economic and political opportunities”. The respective treaty bodies review the reports with representatives of the State concerned, in two or three public sessions which generally last about three hours. After considering the State’s report, the committee adopts public “concluding observations” which evaluate the State’s performance by recognizing positive developments, highlighting areas of concern, and providing suggestions and recommendations on specific issues. The reporting system encourages openness and constructive dialogue between the State and the committee. In practice, however, problems do arise. Many States have been extremely late in submitting their reports; not all reports are reviewed in a timely fashion; not all States give sufficient attention to the comments, suggestions and recommendations of the committees; and not enough publicity is given to the whole process. While the committees (and States) are aware of these issues and have attempted to consolidate and coordinate their activities, national NGOs have an important role to play in ensuring that this continues to be pursued at the national level. The review process does offer an opportunity for an individual or group to help a treaty body better understand the situation of minorities in a particular country. There are various ways of making the best possible use of the reporting system, most of which are relevant to all the treaty bodies discussed above. Encouraging the Government to draft a comprehensive and accurate report A Government department or agency, or sometimes several of them, is responsible for preparing a State’s reports for submission to the relevant treaty body. It is important to find out which agency is responsible and when a report is being prepared. The national foreign ministry often coordinates the preparation of a State’s report and should be able to provide this information. The reports become public United Nations documents after they are submitted to a committee, but there is no formal requirement that States discuss their reports with their own citizens or invite others to help prepare them. However, many Governments do allow or even encourage such participation and minorities are encouraged to take advantage of this, either as individuals or organizations. Whether or not it is possible to participate in drafting a report, NGOs may publicize the fact that a State report on human rights is being prepared. Once the report has been submitted to the relevant committee, minority-specific organizations or more mainstream human rights NGOs may wish to make their own submissions to the committee. Preparing an alternative report An alternative report is also called a parallel, NGO or shadow report. In some countries, alternative reports are coordinated by established human rights or community organizations which have a special interest in the subject that is the focus of a treaty. This enables various groups to contribute to the report and provides a more comprehensive view of the State’s performance in respect of the treaty. Minority advocates should consider how they can contribute to discussion of minority human rights issues within the context of the State report. In some cases, it might be appropriate to prepare a specific alternative report wholly devoted to minority concerns. While this is likely to attract attention to specific minority issues, it also involves a great deal of work and resources, both financial and human. In either case, an alternative report should address specific articles of the relevant treaty and specific sections of the State report. It should be concise, factually accurate and free of unnecessary political comment. Publication and submission of an alternative report can itself draw attention to the human rights issues discussed in the State report. For example, a media