A/HRC/34/34 regulations to guide the work of special procedures and ensure coherence and consistency in the way they address such cases, and to equip mandate holders with the tools necessary to be able to make an informed decision when questions relating to a conflict of interest arises. In the event that a conclusion on such questions does not seem possible, the Committee remains available to provide guidance. 70. The approach taken in the guidelines – namely drawing attention to all documents relevant to the issue of conflict of interest and posing a number of questions that should guide mandate holders – was approved by participants. Several mandate holders stressed that they had their own responsibility to consider whether any outside function that they performed was in conflict with their status as mandate holders. 7. Cooperation with regional mechanisms 71. Mandate holders were briefed on the latest developments in relation to cooperation with regional mechanisms. With regard to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a meeting that had been organized by OHCHR in Washington, D.C. earlier in the year had been attended by several mandate holders and representatives of the Commission, and had resulted in a call for closer cooperation by both sides, including through the issuance of joint statements, visit and reports. 72. Participants in the meeting agreed on the importance of engaging with regional mechanisms. Several mandate holders shared their experiences in relation to cooperation with the inter-American, African and European mechanisms, such as issuing joint press releases, participating in joint events or conducting joint country visits. 73. With regard to the African system, the United Nations Independent Investigation on Burundi, which was supported by two special procedure mandate holders and one expert of the African Union, was highlighted. The construction of this new type of hybrid investigation was to be considered a good practice. In particular, the involvement of the African Union in relation to a country from the region was seen by mandate holders as beneficial to the investigation. 8. Achievements of special procedures 74. Using the opportunity offered by the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the Coordination Committee, the mandate holders reflected on the achievements of the special procedures since the creation of the first mandate in 1967. The main objective was to collect evidence of the positive impact that special procedures had had in the area of human rights, and to better showcase their work. While it would be difficult in some cases to establish whether a positive outcome was the direct result of the action of mandate holders, it was agreed that, in a number of cases, they had played an important role in such outcomes. 75. Achievements highlighted on this basis included positive outcomes as a result of communications sent, improvements after country visits conducted and the development or revision of policies and best practices. Several mandate holders also highlighted the improvements noted in relation to their awareness-raising activities on issues covered by their mandates, not only among government representatives but also in relation to civil society and the media. In doing so, mandate holders had provided various stakeholders with conceptual tools that could have a normative impact. They had also helped to put human rights issues on the global agenda. With regard to country visits, it was pointed out that making reports available in the local languages could increase their impact even further. 76. Participants in the meeting agreed to task the Coordination Committee with compiling the achievements of special procedures with a historical perspective, with a view to publishing an outcome document. 14