
There is a delay in the process of the UNTOC Review Mechanism. The first cluster (for which the reviews were to be finalised by the end of 2022) is “still in progress and no reviews have been finalised” according the Secretariat of the Review process. The list of observations and summaries will be available on the website as soon as they are completed and processed. So far, European governments do not seem very involved in the process. There is often no clarity who the national focal points are and who is in charge of the review. Therefore, the process is not very clear to NGOs either. Earlier LSI and GAATW developed a short guidance for NGOs to participate.
The Secretariat is preparing a background document for the next working groups containing all the information related to the status of the reviews. The next session of the Working Group of Government Experts on Technical Assistance will take place on 29-30 May in Vienna. The Review Mechanism is taking place in four stages, or “clusters”, from December 2020 to December 2030 (see timeline). Each cluster focuses on a particular aspect of UNTOC and its protocols. Within the four clusters, each state is reviewed by two other states, based on the drawing of lots. See the guidelines for the reviewing states. Each State party under review provides responses to a self-assessment questionnaire.