E/CN.4/2003/85 page 7 During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur visited Mexico, the border between the United States of America and Mexico, and the Philippines. The reports on those visits are contained in addenda 2, 3 and 4 respectively to this report. 7. The Special Rapporteur believes that country visits represent an opportunity to engage in an open and constructive dialogue with Governments and civil society, with a view to identifying obstacles to the protection of the human rights of migrants and ways and means to overcome them. Visits also serve to create momentum for a comprehensive debate on migration issues at the national level and facilitate dialogue between the Government and civil society for the identification of common priorities and related strategies. 8. With a view to maintaining a geographical balance in discharging her functions, the Special Rapporteur decided that her programme of visits for the year 2003 will give priority to European and African countries. C. Other activities 9. A summary of all the meetings and events attended by the Special Rapporteur since the establishment of the mandate is contained in her report to the General Assembly (A/57/292). 10. In the period not covered by that report, the Special Rapporteur participated in the Regional Summit on Foreign Migrant Domestic Workers organized by CARAM Asia (Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility in Asia), which was held in Colombo from 26 to 28 August 2002. At the meeting the Special Rapporteur encouraged dialogue among civil society, Governments and international organizations in order to protect domestic workers from human rights violations and other forms of abuse. In October 2002 the Special Rapporteur participated in a seminar organized by the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights where she spoke about international mechanisms of protection of the human rights of migrants. She also participated in the International Migration Policy Programmes (IMP) Follow-up Seminar to the International Migration Policy Seminar for the Caribbean Region which took place in Santo Domingo from 28 to 31 October 2002. At this meeting, the Special Rapporteur spoke about the need for a migration management system able to ensure protection of the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers. She also addressed the issue of return and reintegration, including human rights, discrimination and health considerations. 11. From 4 to 8 November 2002, the Special Rapporteur travelled to New York to present her report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly and to engage in consultations with United Nations partners and NGOs. She participated in the Hemispheric Conference on Migration (Santiago, 20-22 November 2002), where she spoke about the vulnerability of migrants to trafficking and smuggling and recommended measures to combat these phenomena from a human rights perspective. From 2 to 4 December 2002, the Special Rapporteur participated as an observer in the eighty-fourth session of the Council of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) (Geneva, 2-4 December 2002) and in a parallel event organized by the Steering Committee for the Global Campaign for the Ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. She also held consultations with officials of OHCHR, representatives of international organizations and NGOs.