A/HRC/13/26 violations whatever their scope and wherever they occur. Further thought should be given to expanding the Council’s toolbox so it can promptly and effectively deal with urgent or chronic human rights issues at the national, subregional or regional levels. This may require broadening the possible outcomes of special sessions, the formulation of presidential declarations, in addition to resolutions, or in-sessional special sittings. Innovative discussion formats, and modalities and new types of action would be required to enhance the Council’s role as the principal intergovernmental body in the field of human rights. 7. During my interactive dialogues with the Human Rights Council and the Third Committee of the General Assembly in March and November respectively, I noted the breadth of human rights issues raised by delegations, which provided the context for indepth dialogue on the full range of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, as well as on all aspects of the High Commissioner’s mandate. Dialogues with the Council and the Assembly are essential to ensure that we remain responsive to the human rights concerns of the international community. The Council review should provide a context in which these opportunities are rationalized, so as to maximize their impact and take the best advantage of the specificity of each organ. The number of informal interactions with the international community on various aspects of the High Commissioner’s mandate with a view to upholding transparency and cooperation with all stakeholders also increased during the year. A. Universal periodic review 8. The universal periodic review is the most significant innovation of the Council. It confirms my own view of human rights: that there is no country free from human rights violations. The achievement of a genuinely universal process testifies to the credibility of the Council, and positive results have been achieved so far. A number of refinements could be considered before the commencement of the second review cycle to prevent it becoming routine, and to ensure that it reaches its potential of being a reliable and truthful witness to country situations, as well as being a means of providing a road map for the implementation of recommendations aimed at filling policy, legal and practical gaps at the national level. 9. By the end of December 2009, half of all Member States had been reviewed, with all States under review participating, and their peers being fully engaged at the various stages of the process. A broad range of recommendations relating to all areas of human rights were made during each universal periodic review. These ranged from calls for ratification of human rights treaties, enactment of national legislation and deepened cooperation with human rights mechanisms, to recommendations for specific action and measures at the national level. This shows the interest and seriousness with which States have approached the universal periodic review. However, devising practical mechanisms to follow up and ensure implementation of these recommendations is an important challenge for the future. States should continue to formulate concrete, actionable and tangible recommendations and reflect on ways to further rationalize, streamline and cluster recommendations. Where follow-up and implementation is concerned, it is imperative that ways and means be found to involve States under review, United Nations entities, and all other relevant stakeholders in a common effort to identify specific steps to accelerate national implementation of recommendations. OHCHR is also establishing a mechanism to support follow-up on the basis of the funding provided by the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance for implementation of the universal periodic review. 4 GE.09-17604