95.      The UN and many of the concerned specialized agencies have actively pursued ways to harmonize and render more effective the various monitoring mechanisms mandated to review the implementation of State Parties' obligations under human rights treaties, including through more integrated reporting. The ILO, for example, is reviewing its supervisory system, with a view towards modernizing and strengthening it. UNESCO has recently adopted a new human rights policy and is currently reviewing the functioning and effectiveness of its supervisory systems. WHO is developing a comprehensive policy framework for health and human rights, and it has initiated national activities to assist Member States in effectively implementing the recommendations of treaty bodies on health matters, particularly in relation to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The UN system is actively promoting mutual reinforcement among the different oversight mechanisms.

96.      As evident in the previous chapter, a rights-based approach to development has increasingly guided the work of UN system organizations and inter-agency collaboration in both development and human rights. From the perspective of the system's human rights work, notable examples include: the technical assistance provided by OHCHR; the ILO's collaborative Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC); UNICEF's and inter-agency work on the protection of children's rights; the joint programme of OHCHR and UNDP on Human Rights Strengthening (HURIST); WHO's focus on the protection and fulfilment of health-related rights of children and adolescents; UNFPA's work on reproductive health and rights; the establishment by FAO member states, with the support of OHCHR, of an Intergovernmental Working Group, which adopted Voluntary Guidelines to achieve "the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security"; and the joint implementation by UN-Habitat and OHCHR of the UN Housing Rights Programme, as part of the Global Campaign for Secure Tenure. Through inter-agency initiatives such as these, which often cut across institutional boundaries, UN organizations are acting to build synergies among their respective mandates and strengths to optimize impact.