A/HRC/21/51 been positive, and although initially some States had expressed concern with regard to the report, none had been expressed since the report had been submitted to the Council at its nineteenth session. The High Commissioner deeply regretted the fact that reprisals continued against persons who had interacted with human rights mechanisms, and noted that, at recent Council sessions, the issue had attracted special attention. She, together with the President of the Council and several special rapporteurs, had condemned such acts. She stressed that she would continue to do her utmost to ensure that States respected their obligation to protect those who cooperate with human rights mechanisms, and that any suspected act of intimidation or reprisals were responded to vigorously and perpetrators held to account. 18. The mandate holders congratulated the High Commissioner on the extension of her mandate and expressed appreciation for the support provided by her Office, with several noting that continuity in staffing was important. It was observed that the visibility of special procedures had to be raised and that follow-up remained an area that required strengthening. Various mandate holders gave examples of their fruitful collaboration with OHCHR field offices in country visits, while a few suggested that this was an area that could be strengthened. The point was also made that there was potential for OHCHR to engage with the business sector, particularly transnational business corporations. The mandate holders pointed to the important role OHCHR played in the promotion of human rights mainstreaming in the United Nations system, and suggested that it would be useful to document the experience that special procedures had with United Nations country teams. With regard to the universal periodic review, some mandate holders observed that it would be useful for mandate holders who had recently visited countries under review to be present and participate in the review of those countries. On documentation issues, mandate holders expressed concern at the lack of available translations of their reports in official languages and editing practices concerning reports submitted to the General Assembly. Challenges in combining family life, particularly where mandate holders were parents of infants or young children with exercising a special procedures mandate, were noted, and it was suggested that relevant guidelines could be developed. The High Commissioner reaffirmed her commitment to continue to ensure financial support for special procedures, but observed that the current economic situation was unfavourable and that this had also affected the Office. She pledged her support with regard to of the issues concerning documentation and translation. V. Human Rights Council and the special procedures system 19. The participants exchanged views with the President of the Human Rights Council, Laura Dupuy Lasserre, Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Chief of the Human Rights Council Branch of OHCHR and the Chief of the Universal Periodic Review Section of OHCHR. 20. The Chief of the Human Rights Council Branch underlined the recent positive developments in the Human Rights Council with regard to the participation of civil society and national human rights institutions, interaction with special procedures, joint and crossregional initiatives by States and the new modalities that the Human Rights Council had devised to address thematic and country situations in a timely manner. He noted that the Council had created several new mandates, assigned new tasks to OHCHR, and convened numerous panel discussions on topical areas. The impact of Council activities on the workload and resources of OHCHR was highlighted. 21. The Chief of the Universal Periodic Review Section referred to the opportunities for cooperation with the universal periodic review. He emphasized the mutually reinforcing nature of special procedures and the review mechanism, and its capacity to raise awareness 7