Cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe A/RES/71/17 understanding between the United Nations Development Programme Regional Bureau for Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Council of Europe in this field, and calls for enhanced cooperation between the Council of Europe and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN -Habitat) in the field of sustainable urban governance; 17. Also notes the contribution of the Council of Europe in protecting and promoting all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to freedom of expression and opinion and the freedom of the media, encourages further cooperation between the Council of Europe and the United Nations in this regard, in particular with regard to the implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, and in this context furthe r notes the setting-up by the Council of Europe of a platform to promote the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists; 18. Reaffirms that, as the information society and the Internet develop, freedom of expression, as well as the right to privacy, as set out in article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 8 must be protected and respected, including as they relate to data protection, while recognizing lawful restrictions as set out in national legislation in accorda nce with international human rights law, acknowledges the importance of the work of the Council of Europe in protecting those rights, welcomes and encourages the cooperation between relevant United Nations agencies and special procedures of the Human Right s Council, including the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, and the Council of Europe, most notably with regard to the follow-up to General Assembly resolution 70/125 of 16 December 2015 on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, in particular in promoting greater multi-stakeholder participation and engagement in dialogue on Internet governance at the global, regional and national levels, takes note of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, which is open for accession by all States, and recalls Assembly resolution 69/166 of 18 December 2014; 19. Welcomes and encourages the close cooperation between the two organizations in the fight against transnational organized crime, cybercrime, terrorism and money-laundering, as well as in the protection of the rights of victims of such crimes, and recalls that the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime and the Additional Protocol thereto, concerning the criminalization of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems, and the Council of Europe Convention on the Counterfeiting of Medical Products and Similar Crimes Involving Threats to Public Health, as well as several other relevant Council of Europe conventions, are open for accession by all States; 20. Welcomes and supports the cooperation between the respective mechanisms concerning the prevention of and the fight against corruption, notably by reviewing and mutually reinforcing the implementation of international anti-corruption standards, and notes the Council of Europe conference entitled “Strengthening judicial independence and impartiality as a precondition for the rule of law in Council of Europe member States”, held in Sofia on 21 and 22 April 2016, and the action plan adopted at the conference; _______________ 8 See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. 5/7