A/HRC/13/40 communications and any follow-up given to them can feed into the universal periodic review process more effectively. B. Participation in conferences and meetings 9. The Special Rapporteur attended numerous meetings with representatives of States, religious and belief communities and civil society organizations in order to consider the situation of freedom of religion or belief at the national and international levels. These meetings were mainly held during country visits or at United Nations offices in New York and Geneva. The Special Rapporteur also participated in conferences related to the mandate, delivering, for example, a public lecture on religions and religious freedom on 19 February 2009 in Bamberg, Germany. 10. Furthermore, she contributed to the preparatory process leading up to the Durban Review Conference16 and addressed its main committee on 23 April 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland. During the Durban Review Conference, she also participated in a side event on freedom of expression and incitement to racial or religious hatred, organized by OHCHR.17 11. In addition, she participated in a round-table discussion on “Special procedures: Early warning and emerging issues”, held on 23 October 2009 in New York.18 She also delivered a keynote speech on the role and significance of the Human Rights Council’s special procedures, organized on 1 December 2009 by the OHCHR Regional Office for South-East Asia in Bangkok. C. Country visits 12. Country visits are an essential part of the Special Rapporteur’s activities. Such factfinding missions offer an important opportunity for the Special Rapporteur to interact with various State officials as well as to meet representatives of religious or belief communities and other members of civil society. In her country reports, the Special Rapporteur tries to identify existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief and present practical recommendations on ways and means to overcome such obstacles. She also seeks to encourage the adoption of measures at the national level to ensure the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief. In this regard, she welcomes the willingness of several States to re-examine draft laws and take into account the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in her country reports. 13. The following table provides a list of the 31 country missions that have been carried out so far by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, including the mission dates and corresponding document symbols. 16 17 18 6 See for example the joint contribution of 14 special procedure mandate holders (A/CONF.211/ PC/WG.1/5) pursuant to decision PC.1/10 of the Preparatory Committee of the Durban Review Conference at its first session. The joint statement by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance is available at the address www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/docs/ SRJointstatement22April09.pdf. See the webcast archive of 23 October 2009, available at the address www.un.org/webcast/2009.html. GE.09-17648