A/HRC/21/47 especially the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, represented that rejection. 6. In addition to making statements at the sessions of the Permanent Forum and Expert Mechanism, the Special Rapporteur contributed to those bodies’ analysis of thematic issues. In January 2012, he provided comments during an international expert group meeting on combating violence against indigenous women and girls, which was organized by the Permanent Forum and held in New York. He opened the three-day meeting with a presentation in which he emphasized the need for a holistic approach to protecting and respecting the human rights of indigenous women and girls in effectively combating violence against them. The views expressed in that statement are discussed in further detail in part III, below. In addition, he discussed with members of the Expert Mechanism work on the issue of extractive industries, a thematic issue to which he is devoting attention and that the Expert Mechanism also examined over the past year. Further details can be found in part IV, below. B. Areas of work 7. The Special Rapporteur would like to bring to the attention of the Human Rights Council other activities that he carried out over the past year in fulfilment of his mandate. These activities fall within four areas of work: promoting good practices; country reports; responding to cases of alleged human rights violations; and thematic studies. 1. Promotion of good practices 8. The Special Rapporteur continued to join efforts to strengthen the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples at both the international and national levels. A significant aspect of his thematic work on the issue of extractive industries is aimed at promoting good practices by States and business enterprises, and he held numerous meetings in this context, as described in part IV, below. 9. In January 2012, the Special Rapporteur, together with members of the Expert Mechanism and the Permanent Forum, participated in a two-day brainstorming session on the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples and held in 2014. During the session, which took place in Copenhagen, they discussed substantive issues and issues relating to the participation of indigenous peoples in the World Conference. In his opening remarks, the Special Rapporteur noted that the World Conference provided an opportunity, first, for contributing to the development of measures for the direct participation of indigenous peoples in United Nations meetings; second, for advancing greater and more concerted efforts within the United Nations system to promote the rights of indigenous peoples; third, for promoting action at the national and local levels to secure the realization of indigenous peoples’ rights; and fourth, for celebrating indigenous peoples and their contributions worldwide. 10. In addition, the Special Rapporteur visited Peru and Brazil in March and April 2012, respectively. He participated in discussions with indigenous leaders and Government officials around the development of mechanisms for consultations with indigenous peoples and to attempt to clarify the practical dimensions of the principle of free, prior and informed consent. In Peru, his involvement took place in the context of discussions around a new regulation to supplement an existing law on consultation with indigenous peoples. In Brazil, he participated in a conference convened by the Government to launch discussions with indigenous leaders towards the development of a new consultation law or regulation. In his statements, he stressed that there was a need for greater measures to ensure that indigenous peoples were able to set their own priorities for development. He referred in particular to procedures to consult indigenous peoples about legislative and administrative 4