The Consultation, which takes place at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, on 20 and 21 June 2011, is part of a process to improve the working methods of the treaty bodies. In recent times, the number of treaty bodies, the number of reports required by state parties, and the activities of the treaty bodies have increased dramatically. There is consensus that the situation has become intolerable and that reform is needed. Consultations have now been held among treaty body members, national human rights institutions, treaty body chairpersons and international NGOs.

The Pretoria Consultation is the latest round of consultations, focussing on “grassroots” NGOs/civil society. All these efforts will culminate in a final consultation and wrap-up meeting in Dublin, scheduled for November 2011.

The Consultation is attended by the Director of the Treaties Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Geneva, and Dr Zonke Majodina, a South African who chairs the UN Human Rights Committee (the monitoring body of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR)). Representatives of NGOs based in Argentina, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia are represented at the consultation.