This and the next section provide information and tips on how you can input effectively into the review of your country.
It follows from the section on Periodic Reviews – Why are they useful?
There are several ways you can participate in the periodic review process – you can:
Section 3.5: Engage prior to the Treaty Body review
Section 3.6: Participate in the Treaty Body review and post review follow up
This section focuses on:
To view the Treaty Body Reporting Cycle with Stakeholders, click here
Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Before the review (Steps 1, 2, and 3 above)
You can participate in the periodic review of your State by the Treaty Bodies by:
and:
Before you begin…
To find out when your State is due to be reviewed by a Treaty Body, the history of State reports submitted, information received from NHRIs and civil society in previous reporting cycles, concluding observations, and follow up comments and reports:
Screenshot of the Treaty Bodies database - Kazakhstan example
Remember! In practice, a predictable review cycle has only been adopted by a small number of Treaty Bodies: the HR Ctte, the CRC, the CESCR (though not active yet), and CEDAW. An 8-year fixed review cycle was initially adopted by the HR Ctte in 2019, and is being gradually adopted by the CEDAW and the CRPD, although it is expected that other Treaty Bodies will follow. More info here.
You can then participate in the periodic review of your State by the Treaty Bodies:
You may be invited to participate in national consultations preceding the drafting of the State report, if the State chooses to organise them.
A number of States involve civil society (as well as National Human Rights Institutions, media, parliament, etc.) at the early stage of preparing their periodic reports to the Treaty Bodies which is a good practice to ensure the report is as comprehensive and inclusive as possible.
During the review, most Treaty Bodies will often ask the State whether their periodic report was the subject of a consultative process.
Unfortunately, not all States make the effort to include the participation of other stakeholders in national consultations, and NGO perspectives and information are often excluded from the State party report. If your State does not organise national consultations, or if you are unsure whether your views will be accurately reflected in the State compiled report, you may wish to submit an alternative or shadow report to the Treaty Body or participate in (and influence) the periodic review in other ways (see below).
Engaging in national consultations can be an effective way to strengthen dialogue with national authorities. However, this is only feasible if there is limited or no risk of retaliation for NGOs to speak up with government interlocutors about human rights issues.
In many countries, National Mechanisms for Reporting and Follow-up (NMRFs) coordinate the process of preparing State reports to the Treaty Bodies, including organising consultations with civil society. In many countries, NMRFs benefit from UN support to prepare periodic reports to the Treaty Bodies.
The OHCHR provides support to States to uphold their reporting obligations to the Treaty Bodies. You are entitled to request to be involved in such activities as well, which can be requested through OHCHR or relevant contacts in your government.
When participating in national consultations, you may choose to disclose your intentions to submit an alternative or shadow report. This is all the more relevant where the information provided by the State in its report fails to address comprehensively the challenges in fully complying with treaty provisions.
Examples of NGO participation in national consultations
In South Africa, NGOs participated in consultations for the State’s initial report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in 2017. The initial report of South Africa to the CESCR noted that extensive consultation with civil society had taken place and that comments by civil society organisations on the draft report had been incorporated in the final draft.
In 2018, when the initial State report was reviewed by the CESCR, a group of three NGOs submitted a joint report which focused primarily on the situation of human rights defenders of economic, social and cultural rights, including those in the mining sector. The text of this NGO report contributed to a dedicated paragraph in the CESCR’s concluding observations, including three focused recommendations on the situation of human rights defenders in South Africa.
Prior to the formal review, all Treaty Bodies (except SPT) prepare a detailed list of issues and questions (LOI) for the State reviewed, for State response. You can submit written information to assist the Treaty Body in drawing up the list of issues for your country.
This process is similar for those Treaty Bodies who offer the simplified reporting procedure, in which case you can submit information to assist the Treaty Body to draft the list of issues prior to reporting (LOIPR).
Inputting into the LOI / LOIPR is a valuable opportunity for you to influence and highlight specific human rights issues in your country, as these lists have a direct influence on the content and focus of the country review. Your input also ensures that the Treaty Body will ask all the relevant questions ahead of the review, which may not be addressed in the State report (LOI), or in the absence of a State report entirely (LOIPR).
Remember! Some Treaty Bodies won’t raise questions in the dialogue during the Treaty Body session that are not included on the LOI or LOIPR, and won’t issue recommendations on topics that were not raised during the dialogue. It is therefore crucial that NGOs submit information on topics they would like addressed in the Treaty Body recommendations at the LOI/LOIPR stage.
See also below the TOP TIPS under General Information for NGO Submissions to a Treaty Body for a periodic review
Example of NGO input to LOI / LOIPR - CEDAW (2025)
Whether or not you are involved in the preparation of the State report, you can submit a report of your own to the Treaty Bodies, based on your findings and views on the national implementation of the relevant treaty. Such alternative or shadow reports from national NGOs are of particular value to the Treaty Bodies in examining State reports, as they provide an alternative source of information on the human rights situation in a particular country.
Information submitted by NGOs will be included in the relevant country file prepared by OHCHR for the Treaty Body members prior to the review of the concerned State.
Remember! You can reference general comments of the Treaty Bodies in your submission to support your legal arguments on how a Treaty should be implemented by your State. Relevant findings contained in a Treaty Body inquiry report can also be referenced.
Example of NGO alternative or shadow reports and their impact
Ahead of the review, ISHR, alongside the #FreeAlKhawaja Campaign, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, and Front Line Defenders, made a joint submission detailing the long-standing and severe violations committed against prominent defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. The intervention described his arbitrary detention since 2011, the torture he endured, including extended solitary confinement and persistent denial of adequate medical care. During the interactive dialogue with representatives of Bahrain on 18 November 2025, the Committee Against Torture (CAT) experts directly echoed the concerns raised in the joint submission, questioning the delegation about the torture and prolonged ill-treatment of Al-Khawaja, the persistent denial of medical care, and the serious allegations of reprisals against human rights defenders. These targeted questions reflected the role of NGO’s advocacy in shaping key exchanges. The Committee expressed particular concern about conditions of detention, noting that detainees, including defenders, face poor prison conditions, restrictions on family contact, limited access to adequate nutrition, and serious obstacles to receiving appropriate medical care. Bahrain did not provide meaningful or detailed responses to the concerns raised by CAT, particularly those relating to defenders. The delegation referred broadly to legal reforms, human rights training for security forces, and the work of national oversight mechanisms. This shows the importance of the shadow report containing critical information for the Committee to take into consideration.
General information on submitting information to a Treaty Body for a periodic review
This includes NGO input to the LOI / LOIPR and NGO alternative or shadow reports.
Who can submit information?
Anyone (individuals, NGOs, civil society organisations and NHRIs) can submit information to a Treaty Body in the context of a country review. NGOs do not require ECOSOC status to submit information.
When preparing input to the LOI/LOIPR or drafting shadow or alternative reports, you should consider the following:
Remember! You do not need to be a legal expert or lawyer to produce a submission or report to a Treaty Body.
How do you submit information for a periodic review?
All Treaty Bodies have their own deadlines for the submission of written information to the periodic review process. The deadlines differ depending on whether the information is in relation to the list of issues (LOI), or the list of issues prior to the review (LOIPR), or submission of an alternative or report for the country review.
To view the table on the Treaty Body Periodic Reviews: Deadlines for Submitting Information, click here
Where should information be sent?
Submissions (inputs and reports) should be submitted electronically to the OHCHR platform (you need to create an account) and/or to OHCHR Secretariat of the Treaty Body. It is worthy to always double check the information note for civil society, published on the session page, in which you’ll have the latest information. Finally, we advise you to also contact the dedicated INGO as they generally coordinate submissions.
In the case of submissions to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the INGO Child Rights Connect facilitates NGO participation with the Treaty Body. Thus written inputs from NGOs must be submitted through the Child Rights Connect platform.
Go to the next section for tips on how you can participate in the Treaty Body review and post-review follow up.
