A/HRC/10/12 page 4 Introduction 1. The present report is the first one submitted to the Human Rights Council by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and the eighth submitted by the mandate holder on human rights defenders since its establishment in 2000. The report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 7/8. 2. The mandate on the situation of human rights defenders was reviewed by the Human Rights Council at its seventh session in March 2008, and Margaret Sekaggya was appointed as the new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. She took up her functions on 1 May 2008. 3. The Special Rapporteur inherits the remarkable achievements over the past eight years of the previous mandate holder, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders (the Special Representative). These included: (a) the presentation of 34 reports, of which 21 were to the Commission on Human Rights, 7 to the General Assembly and 6 to the Human Rights Council; (b) 14 country visits to 12 countries, namely Angola, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala (visited twice), Indonesia, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Kyrgyzstan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (visited twice), Nigeria, Serbia including Kosovo, Thailand, and Turkey; (c) over 2,100 communications to some 120 countries on the situation of over 3,600 defenders, 22 per cent of whom were women; (d) over 40 press releases issued raising concerns about the situation of human rights defenders in some 30 countries; and (e) a country-by-country compilation of the situation of human rights defenders covering 118 countries (E/CN.4/2006/95/Add.5). 4. These figures alone highlight these achievements in terms of: (a) giving visibility to the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Declaration on human rights defenders) and to the situation of human rights defenders, the importance of their work and the recognition and protection it deserves; (b) contributing to the protection of thousands of human rights defenders worldwide; (c) developing a knowledge base on the human rights issues and concerns that affect defenders, which has contributed to better understanding the interlinkages between the situation of human rights defenders and the broader human rights context; (d) supporting the establishment of regional mechanisms and the adoption of instruments for the protection of human rights defenders; (e) encouraging the development of networks and coalitions of human rights defenders; (f) including a gender perspective in the work of the mandate; and (g) raising awareness on the situation of defenders who are more exposed to the risk of attacks and violations, and giving recognition to their human rights work. 5. Aware of the accomplishments already achieved by the previous mandate holder and with the intention to build and capitalize on them, the Special Rapporteur devoted her first report to the General Assembly to an overview of her vision and priorities for the mandate (A/63/288). 6. The present report to the Council contains a preliminary overview of the universal periodic review (UPR) mechanism, with special attention given to how the review could contribute to the better protection of, and create an enabling environment for, human rights