A/HRC/34/34 82. The Director highlighted the five focus areas identified in the most recent Office Management Plan with a view to create possible synergies between the work of the Office and that of special procedures, given the relevance of their perspectives: the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals; early warning and prevention of human rights violations; preventing violent extremism; migration and xenophobia; and civil society space. 83. The mandate holders expressed their appreciation for the commitment shown by the Director to engage directly with them on issues of concern, including the need for greater visibility of the work of special procedures, increased linkages between the work of the different United Nations human rights mechanisms, and increased communication between different parts of the Office with mandate holders on topics related to their mandates, and the need to safeguard the work of mandate holders and to protect their independence. 3. President of the Human Rights Council 84. The President of the Human Rights Council thanked the mandate holders for the important opportunity to engage in a frank and open conversation, in addition to the discussions he had held with the Coordination Committee throughout the year. The President commended the ability of mandate holders to spark discussions on human rights situations on the ground, and the important role they played in early warning. With regard to the priorities for his term, the President highlighted, inter alia, the momentum created by the 10-year anniversary of the Council and the opportunity it provided to improve the working methods of the Council. 85. With regard to acts of intimidation and reprisal against those cooperating with the United Nations in the field of human rights, the President reiterated that all such allegations brought to his attention were taken very seriously and closely followed up. In addition, he had regularly reminded States that such acts were unacceptable, and called upon them to prevent and ensure adequate protection from such acts. He had addressed the issue of ad hominem attacks on mandate holders in a similar fashion. 86. The mandate holders thanked the President for his support, highlighted a number of issues of concern and asked questions in connection with, inter alia, the engagement of States with mandate holders during their interactive dialogues, time limits placed on their presentations, in particular in relation to reporting on joint activities, the use of visual aids during their presentations, mutual enhancement of the work of special procedures and the Human Rights Council, follow-up on recommendations, the linkage of the work of special procedures with the Sustainable Development Goals, the role of businesses and private enterprises in promoting and protecting human rights, and the human rights of women and children. 4. Field presences of the Office of the High Commissioner 87. The mandate holders and the heads of field presences shared, for the first time, their experiences in cooperation, and made recommendations on improving their work. Participants in the meeting focused on cooperation and engagement between special procedures and field presences, and on follow-up to the work and recommendations of special procedures. 88. The mandate holders thanked the colleagues present for their cooperation, and highlighted positive experiences and the challenges faced. Several mandate holders mentioned the need for awareness-raising on special procedures and follow-up on their recommendations. In this regard, they raised the issue of the time lapse between conducting a visit and the presentation of the report thereon to the Council. The participants agreed that the independence of mandate holders, which should be emphasized to all stakeholders, was 16