A/HRC/15/42 several briefing sessions on international human rights instruments and mechanisms, including introductions to the work of the Council and its universal periodic review procedure. They also benefited from lectures on the work of the treaty bodies and that of several special procedures. Briefing sessions were also organized for the fellows on the United Nations instruments and mechanisms devoted to minorities, including the Declaration, the work of the independent expert on minority issues and the Forum on Minority Issues. The fellows also had the opportunity to attend, as observers, many important sessions of human rights mechanisms, including the Durban Review Conference. 23. The 2009 and 2010 fellowship programmes also included training activities and workshops at other specialized agencies and several individual and group assignments, including the preparation of presentations on human rights issues in the fellows’ respective communities or countries. They also prepared papers on the political participation of minorities in public life, which were used as background material for the second session of the Forum on Minority Issues. 24. The Arabic-language fellowship consisted of a one-month intensive training at OHCHR headquarters in Geneva. The fellowship amounted to a condensed version of the English-language programme, with participants being afforded the opportunity to participate in the second session of the Forum on Minority Issues together with a group of selected former English-speaking fellows. 25. The English-language minority fellowship programme for 2010 was held at OHCHR headquarters from 12 April to 11 June 2010. Like the 2009 programme, it provided intensive training to minority rights advocates, from Colombia, France, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. E. Country engagement activities 26. OHCHR currently has a network of more than 50 field presences spanning five continents, and its country engagement increasingly includes activities that advance the rights of persons belonging to minorities. For example, in the Republic of Moldova, OHCHR, working with the country team, provided detailed comments on the country’s draft anti-discrimination law, to strengthen legal protections of minorities facing discrimination. Although the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had the lead in this area, OHCHR also held a series of consultations with officials from the Ministry of Justice engaged in the preparation of the draft law, with a view to assisting in the adoption of a comprehensive legal instrument prohibiting discrimination on various grounds. 27. In Iraq, OHCHR has been monitoring protection, especially in relation to respect for the principles of non-discrimination and equality before the law. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq has been assessing the feasibility of addressing the concerns of minority communities through an integrated framework strategy with input from OHCHR. The strategy, which is to include specific proposals for activities by various components of the country team and Iraqi actors, will also address (a) the underrepresentation of minorities in the judiciary and law enforcement services; and (b) their overrepresentation among the victims of targeted attacks, abductions, security force misconduct and as subjects of criminal proceedings in certain regional areas. 28. OHCHR began a project on the promotion of the human rights of Afro-descendants in Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Ecuador and Peru. Aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of Afro-descendant organizations in the Andean region and to enable them to better defend their human rights, the project was launched with a national workshop and a regional human rights training session of trainers, which was held from 9 GE.10-14893 7