exchanging such information and documentation between the Centre and the Division was also emphasized. 16. The representative of the Centre for Human Rights reported on its plan of activities for the implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action relating to the integration of the equal status of women into the mainstream of human rights activities. She further assured the Commission that the matter had been given serious consideration in the Centre for Human Rights but that greater commitment of all concerned and more cooperation was needed for the real advancement of the human rights of women. Communications concerning the status of women 17. The Commission had before it a list of confidential communications concerning the status of women (S.W. Communications List No. 28), which was distributed in a sealed envelope to the representatives of each of its States members, and a list of non-confidential communications (E/CN.6/1994/CR.30). 18. At the 9th meeting, on 11 March 1993, the Commission appointed a Working Group on Communications concerning the Status of Women. The Working Group held four closed meetings. 19. Many representatives expressed their support for the Commission’s communications mechanism and considered it an effective way of bringing to its attention broad principles relating to the promotion of women’s rights. Some noted the different objectives of the communications procedures before the Commission on Human Rights, on the one hand, and the Commission on the Status of Women, on the other, both of which should be maintained. One representative stated that the communications mechanism needed to be changed. In particular, the criteria for categorizing communications as confidential or non-confidential ought to be amended. Another representative favoured a wider eligibility of communications qualifying for the non-confidential list as a means of increasing the number of communications available for review, thus enabling the Commission to obtain better guidance for its policy from emerging trends. 20. Several representatives addressed the issue of publicity for the communications mechanism, stating that the efforts undertaken as mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.6/1994/8) seemed insufficient. The drop in the number of communications submitted to the Commission over the years was not the result of a drop in the number of cases of discrimination, but the result of inadequate publicity for the mechanism. A review of the existing policy seemed even more necessary in the light of the cooperation between the Centre for Human Rights and the Division for the Advancement of Women and urgent action was sought to ensure continuous and immediate publicity for the mechanism. One representative said, however, that in view of the recent appointments of a High Commissioner for Human Rights and a Special Rapporteur on violence against women, and in the light of improving coordination among the relevant human rights bodies dealing with women’s human rights and for the purpose of avoiding duplication of work, a comprehensive review of the human rights mechanisms relating to women seemed relevant for determining their roles and mandates before strengthening any of them. 21. On 17 March 1994, the representative of the United States of America, on behalf of the members of the Working Group, introduced the report of the Working Group in a closed meeting of the Commission. At the 17th meeting, on 18 March, the Commission decided to adopt the report of the Working Group as orally revised, and to include it in its entirety in the report of the Commission. -63-