A/HRC/21/51 29. The participants strongly agreed that there was a need to enhance human rights mainstreaming within the United Nations system, particularly through cooperation among special procedures, United Nations country teams and entities at Headquarters. Current cooperation was welcome; it was emphasized, however, that for cooperation to be successful, early consultation, coordination and exchange of information were essential. Country visits of special procedures were valuable opportunities to contribute to the promotion of human rights, raise awareness of human rights issues, strengthen advocacy and support civil society. Country teams played an important role in promoting follow-up to and implementation of the recommendations made by special procedures, with country visit reports being frequently used by the teams for programming and further discussion with States and civil society. Cooperation on thematic issues of common interest between special procedures and United Nations entities at Headquarters has also proved useful. United Nations agencies considered the joint statement on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) by mandate holders to be a very positive contribution. Significant challenges remained, including the need to raise awareness of the role of special procedures in United Nations entities and include special procedures in the process of mainstreaming through appropriate use of their expertise. This could take the form of, inter alia, participation in seminars or webinars, devising indicators and evaluation methods, or suggesting concrete projects for technical cooperation. The engagement of United Nations country teams in human rights mainstreaming varied significantly, often owing to limited capacity and insufficient knowledge of the special procedures system. The importance of the leadership role played by resident coordinators in this context and the need to ensure that the country teams mainstream human rights were highlighted. With regard to country visits, it was essential to consider their timing, sequencing and preparation. The participants also referred to the importance of prioritizing the security of persons who met with special procedures and strengthening ways to protect them against reprisals. 30. United Nations country teams were urged to use the expertise of special procedures on thematic issues, including by exploring the possibility of organizing seminars on the special procedures system, if possible with mandate holders present in the country. Building on the positive experiences to date, special procedures and United Nations entities at Headquarters should strengthen their cooperation on thematic issues of common interest, thus benefiting from their comparative advantage. Updating and strengthening training and guidance tools for country teams with input from the special procedures in the process was recommended, as was improving information-sharing among special procedures, country teams and entities at Headquarters. The importance of taking real practical steps and ensuring knowledge management of experiences, including lessons learned and good practices, was underlined, as was the use of modern technology to build capacity. 31. The continued documentation of forms of cooperation among special procedures, United Nations country teams and entities at Headquarters was regarded as essential for drawing lessons and identifying good practices. Special procedures were considered to have important insights to contribute, and it was agreed that a note would be prepared at the session in consultation with the Coordination Committee and circulated to all resident coordinators. B. Enhancing follow-up, coordination and information-sharing 32. The mandate holders discussed various modalities of follow-up on implementation of their recommendations; these included the circulation of questionnaires to States and other stakeholders, the provision of technical assistance and collaboration and follow-up reports based on follow-up visits, and the collection of updated information from the concerned State and others. Examples were provided of follow-up events organized by 10