A/HRC/7/29 page 14 63. By their very nature, regional organizations had direct contact with regional and country realities and trends, and provided different conceptual approaches to the protection of human rights. The authoritative information they produced was hence extremely useful for special procedures reporting activities, and also for the development of strategies and areas deserving priority attention. 64. Mandate-holders had also strengthened cooperation with regional human rights bodies in relation to country visits. Country and thematic reports elaborated by these bodies, as well as their recommendations concerning specific countries or cases, were routinely used in the preparation of missions by mandate-holders. 65. A more direct form of cooperation had been seen in the assistance in the preparation and conduct of special procedures visits by regional bodies with a presence in the field. More recently, there had been attempts to strengthen cooperation with regional bodies through the joint missions with similar procedures of regional bodies. 66. While the special procedures communications procedure was unique in its flexibility and universality, regional human rights systems included a number of similar procedures. There had been limited capacity to cooperate with regional human rights mechanisms regarding specific instances of human rights violations. Limited resources available for the special procedures work and their sizeable workload, linked to the established effectiveness of many of these regional mechanisms, justified a reflection in order to better select grounds for intervention and prevent potential overlaps. One way to advance in that direction would be the development of closer working relations between OHCHR and the secretariats of those regional mechanisms. There was also a need to look into strengthening cooperation with regional treaty bodies. 67. Several proposals were made by participants to increase and strengthen cooperation with regional bodies. It was decided that some of their suggestions should be included in the relevant part of the Manual. 68. It was suggested that representatives of key regional mechanisms should be invited to participate in future annual meetings. Similarly, ways to ensure more regular participation of mandate-holders in meetings of regional organizations should be explored. OHCHR was requested to systematically analyse reports and other information emanating from regional Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Similarly, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment had an established record of cooperation with relevant bodies and secretariats at the European level, including the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Council of Europe Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, the Commissioner for Human Rights, and, as a matter of course, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture. He has also participated in several meetings of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in relation to issues related to his mandate. In 2005, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people participated in a plenary session of the African Commission in Banjul, where he had the opportunity to liaise with the Commission’s working group on indigenous populations/communities.