A/HRC/8/52 page 196 1. Views expressed by the State under review on the recommendations and/or conclusions as well as on its voluntary commitments 616. The Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations Office at Geneva reaffirmed the commitment of Argentina to the universal system for the promotion and protection of human rights, in particular the Council and its mechanisms. 617. For Argentina, the system of bodies created pursuant to human rights treaties and special procedures of the Council is one of the main achievements of the United Nations in the field of the promotion and protection of human rights at the universal level, and constitutes one of the principal tools of the Organization for ensuring the compliance with international human rights obligations assumed by States. 618. Argentina noted that in the framework of the reform of the United Nations system some three years ago, the establishment of the universal periodic review was one of the main innovations. The review mechanism enables the Council to assess the human rights situation in a given country within a framework of universality and non-selectivity, while ensuring equal treatment for all States in accordance with General Assembly resolution 60/251 which created the Council. 619. Argentina noted that with the two first sessions of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, the system has been put in place. Throughout these two sessions, a genuine and constructive international dialogue and an excellent cooperation among States took place, and this will certainly contribute to improving the compliance with human rights obligations and commitments. Nevertheless, Argentina noted that it is important to further improve the mechanism within the framework of the Working Group. In particular, it is necessary to work with a view to contributing to the uniformity of certain key aspects of the mechanism, such as the preparation of the reports of the Working Group, in coordination with the troika and the Secretariat, as well with regard to the format to be used for the section on recommendations. 620. Argentina was in the first group of countries to be reviewed in the context of the universal periodic review. Within the framework of the review of Argentina, 21 recommendations were made. The Government of Argentina has accepted all those recommendations. 621. Argentina considers that this last stage of the mechanism - the adoption of the outcome by the Council - is of particular importance since it makes it possible to include civil society in the process, in an active and participatory manner. Argentina has supported the participation of the civil society since the beginning of the negotiations on the institution-building process. Argentina highlighted the importance of contributions by non-governmental organizations to the debate. 622. Argentina also wished to emphasize the issue of follow-up to the recommendations and commitments made within the framework of the universal periodic review. The Council will in the future have the task of carrying out that work in the most appropriate manner. In this regard, Argentina has embarked on domestic measures to comply with the recommendations made during the review and with its voluntary commitments. Argentina will report in due course on the follow-up to the recommendations and commitments. Argentina indicated that it had already decided to announce its decision to recognize the competence of the Committee established