A/HRC/34/34 4. Human rights mainstreaming within the United Nations 64. Building on previous discussions, the mandate holders invited the Deputy United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in her capacity as co-Chair of the United Nations Development Group – Human Rights Working Group, and a senior policy adviser of the United Nations Development Operations Coordination Office to continue discussions on the Human Rights Up Front initiative and human rights mainstreaming within the United Nations, and the way in which mandate holders contributed. 65. Participants in the meeting received an update on the work of the United Nations Development Group, in particular its Human Rights Working Group. The Development Group had taken an active role in ensuring that human rights mainstreaming was taken up by all Resident Coordinators, by providing them with, inter alia, practical guidance tools on United Nations human rights mechanisms, including special procedures, and including human rights as a criteria in their annual performance evaluations. The Working Group had also taken initiatives to collect information on how country teams had followed up on recommendations made by United Nations human rights mechanisms. It was noted, however, that political backing should be provided to Resident Coordinators by United Nations Headquarters in order for them to include a human rights-based approach in their work. Moreover, mandate holders were encouraged to include discussions with Resident Coordinators and country teams in their planning of activities, given that they are key partners in the field. The positive role of Human Rights Advisers was also highlighted in this context. 66. The mandate holders reiterated their support for the Human Rights Up Front initiative and human rights mainstreaming in general, and also expressed appreciation for the efforts made to mainstream human rights in the work of Resident Coordinators and country teams. They shared their experiences of cooperating with Resident Coordinators and country teams in relation to their country visits, indicating that their support was crucial to the success of their missions and identifying remaining challenges, including the reluctance of some Resident Coordinators to engage in human rights issues, as they were deemed too sensitive and could possibly jeopardize their relationship with the Government. The mandate holders also linked their work to the Sustainable Development Goals, and raised the issue of lack of inclusion of human rights in both the targets and the indicators. In response, the Deputy High Commissioner encouraged mandate holders to view their work as being part of the accountability mechanism in relation to implementation of the Goals at the country level, and to remind States of their obligations. 5. Coordination of country-specific action 67. The mandate holders discussed their country engagement and ways to coordinate before taking action, in particular between country-specific and thematic mandates. They decided to update the existing guidelines on country-specific action coordination by adding a paragraph in relation to the issuance of press releases by thematic mandate holders on a country for which there is a country mandate. 68. Participants in the meeting also decided to update the terms of reference for country visits by mandate holders adopted in 1998, given that some of the terms were no longer in use, and to reflect developments since 1998 (see A/HRC/34/34/Add.1, chap. XIV). 6. Conflicts of interest 69. In recent years, the Coordination Committee has received an increasing number of requests for advice from mandate holders concerning potential conflicts of interest and situations where the independence of mandate holders could be perceived as compromised. In response, the Committee has developed guidelines based on existing rules and 13