Safe abortion:

y Treaty monitoring body: each of the international
human rights treaties is monitored by a designated
treaty monitoring body (see Annex 7). The
treaty monitoring bodies are committees composed
of independent experts. Their main function
is to monitor the States’ compliance with the
treaty in question, including through the examination
of State reports.
y General comments/recommendations: a treaty
monitoring body’s interpretation of the content
of human rights provisions on thematic issues
or its methods of work. General comments seek
to clarify the reporting duties of State parties
with respect to certain provisions and suggest
approaches to implementing treaty provisions.
y Concluding observations: following submission
of a State report and a constructive dialogue with
the State party to the particular convention, treaty
monitoring bodies issue concluding observations
to the reporting State, which are compiled
in an annual report and sent to the United Nations
General Assembly.
y Regional human rights treaties: States adopted
human rights treaties in Africa, the Americas,
Europe and the Middle East. Regional human
rights bodies, such as the African Union, the
Organization of American States, the Council of
Europe, the European Union, and the League of
Arab States monitor States’ compliance with the
treaties. To date, there are no regional human
rights treaties in South-East Asia or the Western
Pacific. Annex 7 includes a list of regional human
rights treaties.
y Human rights standards: the meaning and scope
of human rights as interpreted and applied by the
human rights bodies tasked with this work, e.g.
international, regional and national courts, and
human rights committees.
Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems v