A/HRC/7/38 page 11 supported and facilitated the involvement of national human rights institutions in the Council, the human rights treaty monitoring bodies and the special procedures. OHCHR has developed a fellowship programme which will start in 2008 and whereby the staff member of a “A” status national institution will be selected to work in the National Institutions Unit of OHCHR for six months, in order to gain knowledge of and experience with the United Nations human rights system. 41. In 2007, I attended meetings in and conducted visits to Afghanistan, Brazil, Burundi, Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan), Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ireland, Japan, Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and the United States of America. 42. In France, Ireland and the United States, I discussed human rights in the context of counter-terrorism, migration and discrimination. In April, I addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the state of human rights in Europe, focusing on issues such as migration. It should be underlined that my Office is an active member of the Global Migration Group, which promotes a rights-based approach to migration. 43. As in previous missions, in most countries I visited, I insisted on the need for accountability with a view to putting an end to impunity for all forms of human rights violations, past and present. The fight against impunity remains at the heart of the work of OHCHR in Cambodia, Colombia, Guatemala, Nepal, Togo, Uganda, Kosovo and Palestine. 44. Closely interconnected with the issue of impunity, the independence of the judiciary has also been an overarching concern in most missions which I undertook in 2007. Other issues which I focused on during my visits included the situation of human rights defenders and of civil society in general, women’s rights, as well as violations of economic, social and cultural rights. 45. In 2007, OHCHR substantively continued to assist the work of human rights components of 17 peace missions. In particular, OHCHR further stepped up its cooperation with the peace missions of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs and other relevant counterparts to ensure further implementation of the Secretary-General’s decision on human rights in integrated missions, adopted in October 2005. Significant progress was achieved in 2007 regarding the integration of human rights in peace missions, including more public human rights reports. 46. Increased cooperation with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the newly established Department of Field Support led to OHCHR participation in all technical assessment missions and other significant mission planning activities conducted in 2007. As a result, well-tailored human rights components will be part of the new joint United Nations/African Union hybrid mission in Darfur as well as of a new mission to be established at the border with Darfur in Chad and the Central African Republic. In addition, the work of the human rights components of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) will be redefined to adjust to the changing situation on the ground. Cooperation between OHCHR and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations also resulted in the revision of mandates in UNOCI,