A/HRC/19/74 effective protection of human rights. Indeed, it is the entire system of human rights diplomacy, including the legal policies of States and the action programmes of international organizations, on which attention must be focused with a view to the development of a truly collective human rights strategy. 41. The first priority should be securing the universal application of international human rights instruments in line with the objective established at the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights. In this connection, the twentieth anniversary of the Conference could serve as an opportunity to review progress on the commitments made there. The process of achieving universal ratification should be stepped up, and awareness-raising activities should be directed towards eliminating the remaining obstacles to effective universal ratification. Moreover, a ―reservations dialogue‖ should be launched to persuade States to withdraw reservations that serve no purpose and, above all, to refrain from entering reservations that are contrary to the purposes and objectives of the treaty concerned. These initiatives could be undertaken in the framework of the United Nations, but they could also be pursued at the regional level or in the context of a political dialogue between States, such as the dialogue being carried on by the European Union and China concerning various international covenants. 42. In addition to the ratification of treaties and their optional protocols, priority should be given to ensuring the effective application of treaties in the domestic arena through awareness-raising, training and information-sharing efforts, which may include sending experts on visits and carrying out institutional capacity-building projects and educational and knowledge-sharing activities. 43. An aspect of international cooperation that is still all too often neglected is the role of regional systems. In addition to the reports submitted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), exchanges between rapidly developing regional systems should be encouraged by the United Nations in order to promote the exchange of experiences and the creation of synergies. Account being taken of the rule of lis pendens, the effectiveness of international cooperation could not but be enhanced if a system were to be established that allowed for information-sharing or coordination between global, regional and national monitoring bodies. Such a system, which should not, of course, encroach on such bodies’ respective mandates, could be modelled on the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The experiences of ILO and UNESCO in carrying out certain joint monitoring activities should be evaluated systematically and then applied to regional organizations, if and where appropriate. Lessons should be learned from the experience of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in conducting electoral and judicial monitoring that can then be used to strengthen international standards and facilitate coordination of field operations. Lastly, more emphasis should be placed on active participation by regional organizations in the work of United Nations bodies. 44. States furthermore have a duty to cooperate fully with monitoring bodies. It is surprising that there are still Member States that have not issued a standing invitation to the special procedures and that quite a number of States do not respond to urgent appeals or requests for information submitted by mandate holders. States should take joint responsibility for strengthening the human resources on which the treaty bodies can draw to carry out their work, whether with regard to State party reports or the consideration of individual communications. 45. An important aspect of cooperation is the follow-up given to recommendations, which requires the involvement of the State party concerned and also of other stakeholders. Mobilization of the relevant stakeholders and consultation with them are just as important as technical and financial assistance in implementing such recommendations. To that end, 13