A/HRC/10/12 page 7 17. The Special Rapporteur undertook a visit between 11 and 14 May 2008 to Swaziland to participate in the forty-third session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 18. From 23 to 27 June 2008, the Special Rapporteur attended the Annual Meeting of Special Procedures in Geneva. 19. On 6 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur participated in a brainstorming organized by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), with the participation of representatives of regional mechanisms working on the situation of human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders of the African Commission, the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and representatives of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were present at the brainstorming. 20. On 7 and 8 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur participated at the conference organized jointly by the United Nations and the European Union in Brussels entitled “The 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the defenders take the floor”. 21. On 24 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur presented her first report (A/63/288) to the General Assembly, in which she presented her vision and defined her priorities for the mandate. In her report, the Special Rapporteur outlined her methods of work, which build on those developed by the Special Representative, including communications and country visits. The priorities outlined by the Special Rapporteur are: the analysis of trends and challenges, and the reinforcement of scrutiny of defenders exposed to specific violations and attacks, including women defenders; defenders working on economic, social and cultural rights; defenders working on the rights of minorities, indigenous peoples and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; defenders working on past abuses; and defenders engaged in student protests. The Special Rapporteur expressed her intention to continue the analysis of the challenges and obstacles that defenders face in the enjoyment of their rights to the core freedoms of association and peaceful assembly. She is also particularly interested in studying the facts that are necessary to devise an early-warning mechanism for the protection of defenders with a view to anticipating systematic threats against them by activating appropriate sectors of the national protection system. The Special Rapporteur also intends to intensify efforts on follow-up, collaborate with various stakeholders, popularize the Declaration on human rights defenders, and share good practices. Her report to the General Assembly included as an annex “Key messages on human rights defenders ten years after the adoption of the Declaration on human rights defenders, ten messages to raise awareness about defenders”. 22. On 27 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur met with the unit for human rights defenders within the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington DC. They discussed thematic and country priorities within the region, and how to strengthen the collaboration between the mandate and the unit. 23. The Special Rapporteur regrets that she was unable to attend a round-table event on human rights defenders at the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg on 3 and 4 November 2008. On this occasion, an OHCHR staff member supporting the mandate participated in the meeting.