A/HRC/22/21 Members of Their Families , the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have, to varying degrees, taken action to further the scope of the report of the High Commissioner and begun to assess its implications. 22. During the twenty-fourth annual meeting of Chairpersons late in June 2012, the 10 chairpersons of treaty bodies welcomed the report of the High Commissioner and recommended that each treaty body should review carefully the specific recommendations addressed to treaty bodies and, in coordination, with other treaty bodies, keep the meeting of the Chairpersons informed about progress made on a biannual basis. 23. States parties engaged in a first round of informal negotiations from 16 to18 July 2012 in New York. In her address made at the meeting, the Secretary-General stressed the importance of how the process would complement Geneva-based efforts by financially supporting the expansion of the treaty body system and, at the same time, preserving its independence. The debates were lively and many welcomed the report of the High Commissioner. The comprehensive reporting calendar proposal received much attention and questions, as did capacity-building with regard to reporting and implementation. The co-facilitators had invited the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the twenty-fourth annual meeting of the Chairpersons of treaty bodies to attend the meeting; their inside knowledge and experience of the system was useful to the debates. 24. On 4 September, a civil society forum on strengthening the human rights treaty bodies, moderated by the co-facilitators of the intergovernmental process, was held in New York and, via video conference, also in Geneva. 25. In their progress report submitted to the President of the General Assembly, the cofacilitators recommended that a comprehensive cost review of the treaty body system should be provided in a background note to the renewed intergovernmental process by the end of 2012. Such a background note could contain detailed information on a number of costing issues, including the cost of the current system, including for conference services and documentation, as well as the additional resources required to clear the current backlog, the assessed allocation needed to fully service the current system and the unit cost of each element of the treaty body system. 1 The recommendation builds on those contained in the report of the Secretary-General on measures to improve further the effectiveness, harmonization and reform of the treaty body system (A/66/344). 26. Negotiations are expected to resume early in 2013. Meanwhile, OHCHR continues to assist the process in any way required. IV. Conclusion 27. Without pre-empting the outcome of the treaty body strengthening process, the need for significant resources remains crucial. At present, only one third of States parties comply in a timely manner with their reporting obligations; but even at such a low level of compliance, treaty bodies face serious structural difficulties when addressing their current workload. By the end of 2012, an average of 291 reports was pending consideration by the treaty bodies. 28. The growth of the treaty body system has never seen any commensurate increase in resources for each treaty body. Reviews of staffing and financial needs only take place in an ad hoc manner, usually on the adoption of a decision to request 1 6 A/66/902, para. 29.