A/HRC/10/14 page 9 30. On 28 November 2008, Mr. Gómez del Prado participated in the workshop “The Challenges to the Regulation of Private Military and Security Companies” held in Rome, organized by LUISS Guido Carli University within the Project PRIV-WAR, a collaborative research project carried out by a consortium of seven European universities. The project is funded by the European Union and aims at formulating proposals for a satisfactory scheme within the European Union to ensure accountability and responsibility of PMSCs. 31. At the initiative of the Chairperson-Rapporteur, the Working Group created a website containing documents and analytical materials on mercenaries and private military and security companies. 32. In 2007, Ms. Benavides de Pérez established an academic network composed of academics and NGOs to investigate the phenomenon of mercenarism and private military and security companies. The network meets on a monthly basis. 33. Since June 2008, Mr. Gómez del Prado has been a member of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces advisory group of Private Security Regulation.Net, an Internet resource on private military and security company regulations. F. Future activities 34. In 2009, the Working Group will continue to promote the widest ratification/accession of the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries. It will also pursue its consultations with Member States and specifically with Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Iraq, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, the Sudan and Zimbabwe, with a view to obtaining invitations to carry out country visits. 35. The Working Group is in active discussion with the Governments of Afghanistan and the United States of America and hopes to carry out visits to these countries in the course of 2009. The purpose of these visits will be to examine, in a spirit of cooperation and dialogue, the situation regarding the activities of private military and security companies either originating from or operating in that country, and their effects on the enjoyment of human rights. 36. In 2009, the Working Group will hold another regional consultation in order to gather a further regional perspective about the current practices of private military and security companies recruiting personnel to be deployed in armed conflict, and to review steps taken by States to regulate and monitor the activities of private military and security companies. It will also attempt to develop regulatory options and best practices aimed at ensuring that private military and security company activities are in conformity with international human rights standards. The regional consultation will also provide an opportunity for the Working Group to discuss with States the retention by States of the monopoly of the use of force. 37. This regional consultation, like the others already held, will be used as a first step in view of the proposal recommended by the Working Group to convene a high-level round table, under the auspices of the United Nations, to discuss the fundamental role of the State as holder of the monopoly on the use of force. The Working Group intends to conduct in total five regional governmental consultations, similar to the ones held for the Latin America and Caribbean region