A/HRC/4/23 page 6 8. On 22 November 2006, the Special Rapporteur attended an international conference organized by the City Council of Madrid on “Human Rights and Prostitution”, where she delivered an opening speech highlighting the main observations and conclusions of her report to the Human Rights Council. She also underscored that prostitution is a profitable form of trafficking and emphasized the need to develop prevention, protection and prosecution mechanisms. She also spoke at the Madrid City Hall on 24 November to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and then proceeded to Norway. In Oslo, the Special Rapporteur attended a conference on trafficking of and violence against women organized by FOKUS - Forum for Women and Development, where she gave a presentation on her role and responsibilities as Special Rapporteur. She also met with public officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of NGOs. The Special Rapporteur attended the Inter-parliamentary Conference on Human Rights and Religious Freedom in Rome from 27 to 29 November 2006 organized by the Institute of Religion and Public Policy, where she gave a presentation emphasizing the importance of such dialogues in better understanding religion in the perspective of human rights and participated as a panellist. C. Communications to Governments and other actors 9. Since the presentation of her last report on communications (E/CN.4/2006/62/Add.1) the Special Rapporteur has sent 29 communications to Governments and, at the time this report was finalized, had received 13 replies. The report on communications sent during the period under review is in addendum 1. 10. The Special Rapporteur also sent a letter to the Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in connection with a ministerial meeting that was held on 11 May 2006 in Dhaka to discuss issues of trafficking. The Special Rapporteur recalled that any action aimed at combating trafficking in persons should be based on human rights principles and requested that the SAARC Secretariat share with member States the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking (E/2002/68/Add.1). D. Press statements and publications 11. On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, on 25 November 2006 the Special Rapporteur issued a public statement which highlighted various forms of violence against women, including trafficking in human beings, and expressed particular concern about online pornography. She called upon concerned citizens, organizations, Governments and international bodies to work effectively towards combating the crime of violence against women, especially in the context of human trafficking. 12. On Human Rights Day, 10 December 2006, all special procedures mandate holders, including the Special Rapporteur, issued a joint press release on poverty and human rights stressing their deep concern that millions of people are still systematically deprived of fundamental human rights simply because they are poor.