A/HRC/4/9 page 4 Introduction 1. The Independent Expert is pleased to submit to the Human Rights Council her second annual report, which provides an overview of her activities from January 2006. Since the presentation of her initial report (E/CN.4/2006/74), she has undertaken two official country missions, to Hungary (26 June-3 July 2006), and to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (28 November-12 December 2006) (A/HRC/4/9/Add.2-3, respectively). The Independent Expert expresses her thanks to the Governments of Hungary and Ethiopia for their cooperation and assistance extended to her in the preparations and conduct of these visits. 2. In her initial report the Independent Expert identifies key thematic priorities for her work as: minorities in the context of poverty alleviation and the MDGs, and promoting inclusion and stability. Persons belonging to disadvantaged minorities are likely to suffer high and disproportionate levels of poverty in every region. The present report focuses on minorities in the context of poverty alleviation, and the need for programmes and strategies for achieving the MDGs that take into account the situations of minority communities uniquely affected by racism, discrimination, exclusion and often violence. Confronting poverty is a key component in policies for social inclusion and the promotion of stability. 3. The Independent Expert has held numerous consultations with government representatives from every region, regional intergovernmental organizations, civil society and academic and research institutions, international financial institutions including the World Bank, and United Nations agencies. At the regional level, she has consulted with the minority mechanisms of bodies including the Council of Europe, and the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and will conduct further dialogue with such bodies in early 2007. She has engaged in consultations with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and held initial dialogue with available senior staff of the African Union during her visit to Ethiopia. She has held initial consultations with representatives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. 4. In taking forward her stated intention to enhance mainstreaming of minority issues within the work of the United Nations, she has consulted widely with United Nations agencies and bodies, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). During the course of her official missions she has also held briefings with country and regional staff of OHCHR, UNDP, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNICEF, and now seeks to enhance dialogue with such entities of the United Nations system, both in the context of wider inter-agency initiatives and in carrying out her country visits. 5. In her initial report, the Independent Expert stated her desire for close collaboration with United Nations treaty bodies, and particularly the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). In August 2006 she held an official dialogue with CERD, during which she discussed possibilities for collaboration, including in regard to the Committee’s early