A/HRC/23/18 commissioners and staff the information shared by OHCHR, including weekly updates on treaty bodies and special procedures. The focal point is also in charge of exchanging notes on the Commission’s forthcoming activities, end of mission statements, press releases and resolutions. In the Council of Europe, focal points have been appointed to address cooperation within the Directorate on Human Rights and Rule of Law, the European Court of Human Rights and the Office of the European Commissioner for Human Rights. 30. The appointment of focal points within human rights mechanisms themselves was also considered as a good practice. For instance, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights regularly liaises with the focal point for the Americas region of the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights works with the Subcommittee focal point for Africa, who took part in a workshop on the effective functioning of the national preventive mechanism of Senegal, held in Dakar in 2011. 31. On 14 December 2012, OHCHR organized the first meeting of focal points on cooperation immediately after the workshop. Participants outlined a work plan for enhancing cooperation between United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms (see annex II). 2. Desk-to-desk cooperation 32. The added value of desk-to-desk cooperation was highlighted. Since 2007, OHCHR and the Council of Europe have held annual coordination meetings aimed at discussing topics of common interest and at strengthening working-level contacts. The sixth coordination meeting was held in Geneva on 11 December 2012. 33. One of the main conclusions of the desk-to-desk meeting was that cooperation had significantly increased in recent years, even though there was room for improvement. Participants agreed that one of the main challenges was to address the gaps in the implementation of recommendations made by the various United Nations and regional human rights bodies. Strengthened cooperation would help to tackle this challenge, in particular by means of working-level exchanges between the two organizations. In this regard, the conclusion of bilateral agreements was cited as a good practice. 34. Another good example of desk-to-desk cooperation was the agreement between the secretariat of the Human Rights Committee (OHCHR Petitions and Inquiries Section) and the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, concluded in 2012, aimed at exchanging staff and at increasing the knowledge of the jurisprudence of both systems. 3. Thematic meetings 35. Participants underscored the need to increase exchanges on thematic issues between United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms, including on standards, jurisprudence and challenges in protecting specific human rights. Some good practices were mentioned. 36. In November and December 2011, and in February 2012, OHCHR organized separate regional consultations gathering United Nations and regional mechanisms in Africa, the Americas and Europe on the prevention of torture and the protection of victims of torture. Participants discussed the possibility of establishing institutional channels to share information and to define priority areas in which joint activities could be envisaged, how to develop a more strategic approach in follow-up to recommendations by different mechanisms, and how to ensure confidentiality. The role of national preventive mechanisms and non-governmental organizations was discussed in that context. An outcome document was adopted at the end of each regional consultation (see annexes III, IV and V). 9