A/HRC/4/43 page 14 VIII. MEETING WITH THE HIGH COMMISSIONER AND PRESENTATION OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER’S STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PLAN A. Exchange with the High Commissioner for Human Rights 60. In her opening remarks, the High Commissioner expressed her appreciation and admiration for the courage and achievements of special procedures. The High Commissioner stressed that, while in the past couple of years the main focus had been on the establishment of the Human Rights Council and on devising a strategy for her Office, “this would be the year of special procedures” and during the year to come the focus would switch to them. The High Commissioner stressed that all efforts would be made to ensure that the necessary resources would be made available to special procedures. 61. In the context of the current reform, the High Commissioner stressed that special procedures had her full support. She called on mandate-holders to collectively make the case not just for the preservation, but also for the improvement, of the special procedures system. There was a widespread view that the system of special procedures needed to be strengthened to ensure more coherent and consistent working methods. Mandate-holders needed to respond to these and other general concerns. In this connection, the High Commissioner greeted as a positive and timely development the establishment of the Coordination Committee. There was in fact a need for mandate-holders to work cooperatively and to speak with a collective voice on institutional issues. The High Commissioner encouraged mandate-holders to be fully involved in the process of review so as to anticipate possible challenges and be able to provide sophisticated and well analysed responses to them. 62. Mandate-holders warmly thanked the High Commissioner for her presence and words of support and complimented her work. Questions were raised concerning: potential areas of cooperation between special procedures and OHCHR and the extent to which special procedures can be involved in the initiatives of the High Commissioner; the desirability that the entire Office provide substantive and intellectual support to special procedures on specific thematic issues; the need to ensure an equal level of support and opportunities of cooperation to all mandate-holders; the desirability of special procedures and OHCHR devising joint strategies on specific situations; the need to take into account special procedures’ views in the formulation of country engagement strategies and programmes. It was also pointed out that often coherence depends on outside factors such as the procedure to appoint mandate-holders and the resources available to them. The support of the High Commissioner on these and similar issues was encouraged. 63. The High Commissioner reiterated that she cheered the institutional independence and personal liberty of special procedures, as well as that of her Office, and stressed the need to preserve the prerogative for both of them to use their professional judgement in all situations. On these premises, the High Commissioner stressed that there was scope for mutual support and cooperation in many areas. To this end, there was a need to ensure the existence of an established system of communication between special procedures and OHCHR at large. The High Commissioner referred to current efforts to strengthen the thematic expertise of the Office,