E/CN.4/2000/82 page 5 II. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR 8. The Special Rapporteur visited Geneva between 13 and 17 September 1999. During her stay, she held consultations with staff members of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and with the High Commissioner herself, as well as with members of intergovernmental bodies and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and drew up a plan of activities for the three years of her mandate. 9. The Special Rapporteur visited New York between 4 and 6 November and once again met the High Commissioner, as well as special rapporteurs and NGOs. She was back in Geneva between 25 November and 2 December to meet representatives of the permanent missions and officials of intergovernmental, international and non-governmental organizations. 10. On the latter occasion, she attended a meeting of the International Steering Committee of the Global Campaign for Ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 11. As a first step, and in compliance with the provisions of paragraph 5 of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/44, the Special Rapporteur sent out, on 27 September 1999, a letter to Governments, the specialized agencies of the United Nations, the chairpersons of treaty bodies, and NGOs, requesting information relevant to her mandate. She is especially interested in receiving information on measures being taken in response to the questions raised by the issue of the human rights of migrants, with a view to formulating suitable recommendations to the Commission. 12. The information provided in the replies to her letter is now being studied by the Special Rapporteur and will be reflected in her oral presentation of this report to the Commission at its fifty-sixth session. III. BACKGROUND 13. The international community’s growing interest in human rights issues has meant that migrants’ rights have begun to receive special attention. In addition to the initiative taken by the Commission and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 (part II, paras. 33-35), the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development held at Cairo (chapter X), the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, held at Copenhagen (Programme of Action, chapter III), and the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing (Platform for Action, chapter IV, section D), devote special attention to the issue of migrants’ human rights. The working group of intergovernmental experts on the human rights of migrants has made a considerable contribution to our knowledge of this phenomenon and to identifying the current obstacles to the full and effective exercise of their human rights by that “vulnerable group”.1 Intergovernmental bodies have promoted a number of initiatives to establish a dialogue between Governments in regions that have to deal with the