need to coordinate their activities so as to present a consistent and systematic approach to monitoring the implementation of human rights at the national level. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has published specific fact sheets on most of the international treaties and treaty bodies referred to here. Those interested in a particular treaty or treaty body should refer to them (see list at the end). The present Fact Sheet takes a more general approach: surveying all the treaties and treaty bodies to see to what extent they can, and do, function together as a single, holistic and integrated system for the promotion and protection of human rights. Chapter I presents the nine core international human rights treaties currently in force and their optional protocols. These treaties are the product of more than half a century of continuous elaboration since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Chapter II presents the work of the ten2 human rights treaty bodies established under the terms of these treaties. These treaty bodies monitor the implementation of the rights set out in the treaties by the States that have accepted them. The treaty body system constitutes a key mechanism through which States are obliged to engage, at an international forum, in a rigorous, but constructive, dialogue on the state of human rights implementation in their countries. All of the treaty bodies are considered together, concentrating on the common elements of their mandates and working methods, but also outlining some major differences. Further details on their practical differences can be found in the specific fact sheets. Chapter III surveys the challenges facing the human rights treaty system. It considers efforts to make the system more effective, in particular by streamlining the reporting procedure. The implications for the treaty system of the new emphasis on the creation of and support to national protection systems are also discussed. A glossary of technical terms is also provided to assist readers with the terminology used in relation to the treaties and the treaty bodies. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes it clear that all human rights are indivisible and interrelated, and equal importance should be attached to each and every right. All States are committed to promoting respect for the One for each of the nine treaties plus the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, established by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. 2 2