E/CN.4/2006/5 page 6 7. The Special Rapporteur would like to express her gratitude to the people assisting her mandate, as the human resources available to her are very limited but exceedingly dedicated. She calls for the allocation of increased resources so that the mandate can achieve its full potential. A. Communications 8. The amount of information received from both individuals and NGOs on situations that appear to fall within the scope of the mandate is overwhelming and deals with a wide range of complex and sensitive issues. One of the crucial activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur in this regard is to engage in constructive dialogue with Governments by sending them communications in order to seek clarification on credible allegations received. 9. During the period from 12 November 2004 to 30 November 2005, a total of 84 communications were transmitted to 36 different countries. The Special Rapporteur sent communications to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, China, Denmark, Egypt, Eritrea, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Romania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam and Yemen. 10. Of the 84 communications, 49 were sent to the Asian and Pacific region, 21 to Europe and North America, 10 to the Arab region, 4 to Africa and none to Latin America and the Caribbean. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur notes that while there is an obvious imbalance between States regarding the amount of information received, the picture does depict positive trends in some regions, which has remained consistently encouraging. The Special Rapporteur reiterates that the absence of information about a specific country does not mean that the situation with regard to freedom of religion or belief in that country is necessarily satisfactory. Indeed, the absence of information may sometimes be explained by the lack of a civil society or by obstacles that prevent the information from being transmitted outside the country. 11. The communications sent during the period under review were made up of 28 urgent appeals and 56 allegation letters. The Special Rapporteur is pleased that 23 of the urgent appeals and 11 of the allegation letters were sent jointly with other special procedures. The Special Rapporteur welcomes once again this important collaboration, especially in view of the fact that violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief are very often coupled with violations of other human rights. During the period under review communications were sent jointly with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture.