Shadow reports are a method for NGOs to supplement or present alternative information to the periodic government reports that State parties are required to submit under treaties. The section of this site that discusses United Nations Enforcement Mechanisms provides an overview of the major UN treaty-monitoring bodies that address women's human rights.

NGOs play an essential role in providing both reliable and independent information to UN committees on issues such as violence against women, which is often overlooked in official reports. Many NGOs around the world have used shadow reports to successfully lobby various UN bodies, including treaty-monitoring bodies, (such the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women), thematic groups (such as the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women), charter-based bodies (such as the Commission on the Status of Women) and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who have then examined particular human rights issues more closely.

Much of the information presented in this section of the site on human rights reports is general enough to also apply to the research and writing of shadow reports. There is no single format for shadow reports, but the report should generally be organized according to the articles of the particular treaty, as a commentary on the State party report. A shadow report should analyze a particular problem rather than merely describe it. NGOs often find it useful to produce reports that shadow the entire State report, but it is also possible for NGOs that work on particular problems to produce reports that merely shadow one or a few articles of a convention, for example- the provisions on violence. Often, NGOs work in coalitions to create shadow reports, with various NGOs working only on the area of their expertise, for example, violence against women, equal access to education or labor issues. Working in coalitions is an effective way to ensure that the particular treaty-monitoring body gains a comprehensive view of the situation of women in a particular country.

The International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW), a U.S.-based NGO, has created an excellent procedural guide, Producing NGO Shadow Reports to CEDAW. Advocates may find it useful to review shadow reports by other NGOs from the same country or on the same issue. IWRAW's website also has links to sample shadow reports on violations of women's rights. Links to shadow reports and Committee reports are also available on the country pages.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, a U.S. NGO, has published a guide Bringing Rights to Bear: An Analysis of the Work of U.N. Treaty Monitoring Bodies on Reproductive and Sexual Rights, which has information that would be helpful to advocates in producing shadow reports. The advocates guide includes a step-by-step guide to using the UN treaty-monitoring bodies, a suggested format for shadow reports for the Human Rights Committee and a suggested format for a shadow letter to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The guide also includes an appendix with an overview of the UN treaty-monitoring bodies. The Center or Reproductive Rights has also collaborated on a number of shadow reports, many of which include discussions of violence against women.

While not a guide to writing shadow reports specifically, the CEDAW Assessment Tool, created by the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI) of the American Bar Association, is a comprehensive tool for assessing a country's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The guidelines presented in this manual can help NGOs to assess a country's de jure and de facto compliance with international law and to produce a report that can be presented to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women or other bodies.

Additionally, the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights has developed a Professional Training Series, which includes a Manual on Human Rights Reporting under Six Major International Human Rights Instruments. The manual is intended to serve as a "practical tool for government officials in the preparation and submission of reports required under the United Nations' international human rights treaties," but can also help advocates better understand the reporting process, the requirements under a particular treaty and provide advocates with insight into ways to present information to the treaty-monitoring body in an effective format.