A/HRC/13/23 experienced by many minority groups and a key impediment preventing minorities from benefiting from mainstream poverty reduction strategies. 17. On 22 December 2009, the independent expert issued a public statement calling for China to permit a comprehensive and independent assessment of the ethnic tensions and grievances in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where ethnic violence erupted in July 2009 between ethnic Han and ethnic Uyghur communities. The independent expert urged the Government to grant her an invitation to visit China and allow her access to the region in order to consult with government representatives and members of both communities. The independent expert noted that her mandate to promote implementation of the 1992 Declaration on Minorities would prove valuable to such an assessment and positive efforts towards reconciliation of Han and Uyghur communities. III. Forum on Minority Issues 18. In its resolution 6/15 of 28 September 2007, the Human Rights Council established a Forum on Minority Issues (“the Forum”), inter alia to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as well as thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the independent expert on minority issues. The independent expert is required to guide the work of the Forum and prepare its annual meetings. The inaugural session took place on 15 and 16 December 2008 in Geneva with a thematic focus on “Minorities and the Right to Education”. A. Follow-up to first session of the Forum on Minority Issues 19. As part of her ongoing engagement with the treaty bodies in relation to the Forum, the independent expert held her first official dialogue with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women during its forty-fifth session in New York on 5 August 2009. She was invited to discuss the Forum on Minorities and education and its recommendations, as well as preparations for the second annual Forum. The Committee welcomed the opportunity for collaboration and agreed that collaboration would continue and an expert member would attend the second session. 20. The independent expert met officially with the chairs of the treaty bodies during their annual meeting in June 2009. She briefed them further on the outcomes and recommendations of the Forum and solicited views on how Forum recommendations could benefit their work. The independent expert is encouraged that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has made reference to the Forum recommendations on minorities and the right to education in its consideration of State reports during its 2009 sessions. 21. In September 2009, the independent expert participated in a conference held in Cali, Colombia, as a regional follow-up activity to the first session of the Forum, which had focused on minorities and the right to education. The conference was organized by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Justice and Human Rights, in collaboration with the Cornell Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and the International Human Rights Law Clinic of the University of Virginia. In an effort to continue dialogue, remain accountable to local communities and promote grass-roots advocacy, the conference publicly launched the report entitled “Right to Education of Afro-descendant and Indigenous Communities in the Americas” that it had previously presented at the Forum. The report addresses failures to fulfil obligations with respect to the right to education GE.10-10198 7