A/HRC/11/6 page 6 on the impact of VAW on the family, in Doha, Qatar; and a presentation on recent trends and emerging forms of VAW to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Conference on Parliamentary Responses to VAW, held from 2 to 4 December 2008 in Geneva. 12. In the first three months of 2009, I participated in the following: 21 January, a Genocide Expert Seminar in Geneva, where I highlighted the gender impact and dimensions of this grave crime; after which I engaged in a dialogue with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. I made a keynote speech at a global meeting of Musawah on equality and justice in the Muslim family, held from 13 to 15 February in Kuala Lumpur. On 17 February, I attended a workshop on medical and legal responses to VAW, in Alexandria; from 2 to 6 March, the fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women, where I reported on my activities, informed the Commission on my thematic report for this year. I also took part in a number of events organized by NGOs and United Nations agencies, including a panel discussion on the occasion of the United Nations commemoration of International Women’s Day, and another on enhancing gender advocacy and the cooperation between NGOs and the United Nations human rights system. 13. The latest engagements which I undertook during the last months of my mandate include participation in: the Second Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul (6-7 April); the Durban Review Conference in Geneva (21-23 April); public hearing on women in Turkey at the European Parliament in Brussels (30 April); conference on democracy and gender equality in the Muslim world, at the University of Chicago Law School (8-9 May); and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe meeting of national contact parliamentarians, in Istanbul (15 May 2009). E. Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Occupied Palestinian Territory 14. Following Human Rights Council resolutions 7/20 and S-8/1, I contributed to the “Combined report of seven thematic special procedures on technical assistance to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and urgent examination of the situation in the east of the country”, which was submitted to the Council at its tenth session (A/HRC/10/59). In my review of the situation of VAW in the country since my official visit in July 2007, I reported with regret that VAW remains rampant throughout the country even where war has ended, as does the lack of care and the conditions of extreme poverty for survivors. 15. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-9/1 on grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) particularly due to the recent Israeli military attacks against Gaza, I also reviewed the situation of VAW in the OPT since my official visit there in 2005 and in the aftermath of the military attacks. F. Communications and press releases 16. During the reporting period and as of 2 April 2009, I sent 93 communications bringing alleged human rights violations to the attention of Governments. As of 27 April 2009 I received 38 government replies to communications. An analysis of these communications can be found in Addendum 1.