A/HRC/21/51
13.
No complaints of alleged misconduct of mandate holders were brought to the
attention of the Coordination Committee, and no communications were submitted to the
Committee under its Internal Advisory Procedure in 2011/12. The Committee remained
ready to address situations considered to be of concern to the system as a whole
proactively, with due regard for the responsibility of individual mandate holders.
14.
OHCHR organized two induction sessions for new mandate holders, in October
2011 and May 2012, during which members of the Coordination Committee briefed
participants on the Committee and participated as resource persons. With regard to followup to issues discussed at the eighteenth annual meeting, mandate holders now had access to
individual generic e-mails, information-sharing had been facilitated through the
establishment of an extranet and several administrative issues had been resolved. The
consolidated communications report submitted to the Human Rights Council at each of its
sessions since September 2011 was noted as particularly positive. The strengthening of
coordination, notably with regard to country visits and priority issues across mandates,
remained a principal objective for the coming year, as did raising the visibility of the
system of special procedures and mainstreaming human rights. Informal interaction
between the Committee and the President of the Council and regional groups should be
continued.
IV. Exchange of views with the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights
15.
The High Commissioner observed that the continued expansion of the special
procedures system through the creation of new mandates bore testimony to the relevance of
their work and their key position in the human rights machinery. She highlighted the
valuable role played by special procedures in providing early warning and advocating for
the prevention of human rights violations, as shown by their participation, facilitated by the
Coordination Committee, through public statements at the special sessions of the Human
Rights Council on the Syrian Arab Republic and the many communications and public
statements on other situations. She also commended the special procedures for drawing
attention to systemic issues affecting the international community, such as the challenges to
sustainable development, the financial crises and globalization.
16.
The High Commissioner emphasized how she consistently addressed cooperation
with special procedures and follow-up to their recommendations in her interaction with
States, reminding them of their commitments to issue invitations, facilitate country visits,
respond to communications and protect those cooperating with special procedures from
reprisals. She was pleased that, at the annual meeting, time had been dedicated to the
discussion of human rights mainstreaming, given that working closely with United Nations
entities heightened the impact of recommendations and improved follow-up with
authorities on their implementation.. She encouraged mandate holders to develop such
partnerships further, and pointed out that OHCHR would continue to promote special
procedures across the United Nations system. OHCHR currently had 58 field presences;
wherever colleagues were present at the national level, they would always provide full
support. The work of special procedures reinforced and complemented the work of
OHCHR in the field, and played a valuable role in raising the profile of specific issues and
situations.
17.
The High Commissioner stated that regional human rights organizations were key
partners and welcomed the strengthened cooperation of mandate holders with the special
rapporteurs of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, seen in the road
map adopted at the joint meeting held in Addis Ababa in January 2012. The
implementation of the decision to prepare a consolidated communications report ha d
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