A/HRC/19/56 11. On 26 and 27 October the independent expert participated in the Fourth Budapest Human Rights Forum in Budapest, Hungary, hosted by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The independent expert delivered a statement on the subject of the responsibility to protect in practice in which she highlighted the fact that the responsibility to protect must begin long before violence begins and include specific attention to minority groups and minority rights protection as a key stability and conflict prevention measure. The independent expert recalled that the Declaration on Minorities emphasizes that the protection and promotion of the rights of minorities contributes to the political and social stability of States in which they live. 12. The independent expert is determined to engage all relevant actors in a constructive dialogue on pressing issues of concern to persons belonging to minorities. She has begun a process of wide consultation with diverse stakeholders in order to inform her work. She places a high priority on learning the views, issues and concerns of members of minority communities themselves in order to reflect and respond to their priorities consistently in her work. Further to the mandate requirement to apply a gender perspective in her work, she will ensure that the views of minority women are fully reflected. The independent expert recognizes that minority communities are themselves diverse and that persons belonging to minorities may have different experiences, challenges, perceptions of their identity and sense of belonging as well as diverse social and economic relationships in their country of residence. She will seek to reflect the diversity of views while focusing her attention on the situation of those who may find themselves most disadvantaged, excluded or most vulnerable within society, including due to the impact of multiple or intersecting discrimination. 13. The independent expert has engaged in an initial dialogue with several United Nations Member States and will seek a full and constructive engagement with States from all regions on issues relevant to her mandate. She strongly encourages States to consider inviting her to conduct official mandate visits and to respond positively to her requests for invitations to visit. She emphasizes the requirement of her mandate to identify best practices and possibilities for technical cooperation by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the request of Governments and encourages Governments to proactively respond to this opportunity for constructive engagement with the mandate and OHCHR. She urges States to provide information to her regarding positive laws, policies and practices relating to the rights of minorities and put forward requests for technical cooperation. 14. Expanding and strengthening cooperation with regional bodies. The independent expert will seek to strengthen her mandate’s engagement with regional inter-governmental organizations including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, the European Union, the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) High Commissioner on National Minorities, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, inter alia. She hopes to enhance communication with these bodies on issues relating to minorities in their respective regions and consider joint initiatives where appropriate and ideally within the regions in question. The independent expert will actively seek the participation of representatives of such regional organizations in the annual United Nations Forum on Minority Issues as well as thematic activities of the mandate. 15. Drawing on the experiences of the former independent expert and other special procedures mandate holders, the independent expert will develop working methods relating to her communications with States, based on information received from a variety of sources alleging violations of the human rights of persons belonging to minorities. She will seek to enhance the effectiveness of her handling of the information received from sources including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and minority communities. These working methods will seek to strengthen engagement with States and other actors 6