A/HRC/39/58 would be necessary when establishing each body, realistically taking into account which provisions member States would be comfortable ratifying and implementing. Attention should be focused on the extent to which compromises could be made. This approach could lead to the proliferation of organizations based on subregions, such as Central, Eastern, Northern, South-eastern, Southern and Western Asia. Those organizations would cooperate with each other but would reflect the distinctive approach to human rights protection of each subregion. In parallel, further international agreements could be created at the regional level focusing on addressing common issues, such as child poverty or the rights of the elderly, or technical issues such as consumer privacy rights. In the long run, of course, efforts would be needed to integrate these diverse subregional rights systems and single issue regimes into a coherent whole. Criss-crossing the region with a network of subregional arrangements would allow countries to move at their own pace. In doing so, they would be encouraged by international civil society and assisted by the United Nations system. 46. It is clear from the case of Europe and other successful regional arrangements in Africa and the Americas that strong regional cooperation and coordination greatly contribute to the consolidation of universal human rights. The networked approach is not only effective in creating new regional mechanisms, it will also revitalize existing ones. Joint networks are essential for ensuring that overlapping global, regional, subregional and national human rights actors maximize their potential and avoid jurisdictional conflict. For stronger and more effective regional mechanisms, all actors, including Governments and civil societies, will need to play important roles in promoting multilevel cooperation, which will include national assemblies, courts, national human rights institutions, private sector representatives and scholars from various fields. Specifically, there needs to be awareness that sustainable procedures are the result of a careful balance between commitment and collaboration. Finding that balance requires careful research, honest negotiations and a willingness to listen and learn by local and international actors alike. Put simply, human rights can be implemented to the fullest extent only when Governments, citizens and international civil society are willing to engage in the process. VIII. Conclusions and recommendations Conclusions 47. Regional human rights mechanisms have made important achievements in protecting human rights around the world. The European regime has made great strides in changing laws and practices in its member States, including enhancing the protections for vulnerable populations such as same-sex couples and children. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has helped to protect human rights defenders and the rights of indigenous peoples, and has issued reports on member States. The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the Arab Human Rights Committee publish reports which are used by civil society actors to further advocate for the protection and promotion of human rights. 48. Despite these successes, regional human rights mechanisms are still struggling to overcome serious limitations. Some of them do not enjoy the membership of all States within their respective regions. In the case of the Inter-American human rights mechanism, the United States, Canada and most Caribbean States have not ratified the relevant convention. Likewise, some African and Arab States have not ratified their respective regional human rights conventions either. In Asia, there is no regionwide human rights arrangement. Regional arrangements also have many operational limitations, including restrictions on the independence of judges, an inability to enforce their decisions, or serious backlogs of cases. A lack of political will by relevant States and insufficient funding are also serious obstacles, even in Europe. 49. The United Nations is essential to forging a complementary relationship between regional and universal arrangements, because it is in a position to work with all regional mechanisms and promote further exchanges of information and good practices between them. South-South cooperation is vital in strengthening existing 16