A/HRC/34/52 General Assembly in New York, as well as in the field when on academic assignment or upon invitation by regional defender networks. Thus, between 2014 and 2017, he met with representatives of Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Honduras, Ireland, Mexico, Mongolia, Norway, Serbia, Sweden and the United States. Even though such meetings take place outside the framework of official country visits, the Special Rapporteur believes that they are no less essential in facilitating information-sharing and in strengthening the dialogue with his office. He extends thanks to the States that made their representatives available for such meetings and encourages the Governments of countries that receive similar requests to respond positively to them. 47. If the Special Rapporteur has the opportunity to continue his work under a second mandate, he will further such discussions and will explore additional options with the States involved, for instance, establishing a network of countries that have taken measures towards protecting human rights defenders. In that connection, he believes that it is important to facilitate opportunities for dialogue between States to foster the sharing of good practices and to improve follow-up on recommendations. He would also like to explore ideas such as the designation of focal points, in ministries and embassies, who would be tasked with monitoring the situation of human rights defenders, and the inclusion of a section on defenders in all reports submitted under the universal periodic review. 48. In addition, the Special Rapporteur intends to offer his technical expertise to States in training police officers on issues facing defenders and on the need to provide better support to those persons when they wish to file complaints and receive police protection. 49. Lastly, as part of efforts to better protect defenders who promote corporate responsibility, the Special Rapporteur would like to offer his assistance to countries that seek to include a section on defenders in their national action plans. United Nations 50. The Special Rapporteur has also sought to enhance cooperation with the United Nations. He attended meetings and events organized by regional and country offices during his trips and was pleased to find partners in the field who appreciated his concerns and were willing to develop joint initiatives. The Special Rapporteur welcomes projects such as the Commentary to the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which was compiled by regional and country offices of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central and South America and to which he contributed. 51. The Special Rapporteur would like to organize joint workshops over the next few years in order to strengthen the implementation of resolutions and recommendations on the situation of defenders and to increase the sharing of good practices. It is equally important to improve the sharing of information, in particular information being conveyed from the field to the Special Rapporteur, so as to be more responsive when draft legislation jeopardizes the situation of defenders in a given country. 52. Enhanced cooperation with resident coordinators and United Nations agencies and programmes is needed. The Special Rapporteur’s interactions with other actors have revealed a lack of visibility and understanding of his mandate and, more generally, a lack of knowledge even within the United Nations about the situation of defenders. He has therefore sought to foster better coordination with institutions such as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It would also be useful to develop training and outreach workshops for staff of those institutions and to raise their awareness about the recommendations contained in the Special Rapporteur’s reports and the links between them and the issues at the core of those GE.17-00986 11