A/HRC/15/22 added value of the mandate, since similar mechanisms have not been established by international environmental treaties on chemicals or waste management. 60. The communication procedure also presents some advantages vis-à-vis judicial and quasi-judicial procedures established in the field of human rights law. In the first place, its use does not require the previous exhaustion of domestic remedies, as is the case for individual communications or complaints to human rights courts or treaty bodies. Secondly, the alleged victim(s) only need(s) to provide prima facie evidence of a human rights violation, and does not need to be assisted by a lawyer at any stage of the procedure. Thirdly, information on alleged human rights violations can be provided not only by the victim, as is the practice in the judicial or quasi-judicial procedures referred to above, but also by domestic and international NGOs acting on their behalf. 61. Follow-up to communications is essential to ensure the effectiveness of this procedure. The Special Rapporteur attaches great importance to maintaining a constructive dialogue with Governments concerned and the sources of communications on any developments in the situation referred to in the communication. In order to ensure that the procedure goes beyond a mere exchange of letters between the Special Rapporteur and the Government, it is particularly important that sources of information provide the mandate holder with updates on the cases they had brought to his attention. This enhances the quality of the dialogue, since the Special Rapporteur can follow up on replies provided by Governments in order to request further clarification or information. 62. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the potential of this procedure has not been fully exploited. As of June 2010, the Special Rapporteur has sent, either independently or jointly with other special procedure mandate holders, a total of 15 allegation letters and 12 urgent appeals. The mandate holder believes that the limited number of communications sent partly depends on the fact that many human rights and environmental NGOs are not familiar with his mandate, and that much more needs to be done to raise awareness of the mandate, as well as on the communication procedure and its potential. D. Collaboration with the United Nations system 63. The Special Rapporteur has established solid working relations with the secretariats of relevant environmental treaties. He regularly exchanges information and meets with the secretariats of the chemicals and waste management conventions, as well as with the SAICM secretariat and the secretariat of the Aarhus Convention. The Special Rapporteur would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them for their continuous support to the mandate. 64. During his tenure, the Special Rapporteur participated in, or conveyed statements to, several sessions of the governing bodies of environmental conventions, such as the Meetings of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention and the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, as well as in meetings of technical committees or bodies established by the Conferences/Meetings of Parties to environmental treaties, such as the Joint Working Group established by the IMO, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on Ship Scrapping. He also participated actively in the development and implementation of the SAICM. 65. The Special Rapporteur considers that the collaboration with the secretariats of environmental conventions and their political bodies is of vital importance for the mandate. It provides a useful opportunity to establish or strengthen synergies with these organizations and to mainstream a human rights-based approach in their work by raising awareness on the adverse impact that the movement and dumping of hazardous products and wastes may have on the enjoyment of human rights. GE.10-14907 17