A/HRC/28/63 and conduct joint missions with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Joint visits help raise the profile of visit, facilitate follow-up by regional mechanisms and relevant stakeholders and create synergies between international and regional human rights mechanisms. 24. In addition to official country visits, the Special Rapporteur will accept invitations sent to him by State institutions, universities or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to participate in conferences, events and workshops, where he can present his views on the situation of human rights defenders and the role of his mandate. Such activities provide invaluable opportunities to raise awareness about the role of human rights defenders and engage with different stakeholders on the issue. Where it is relevant and useful, and with the agreement of the States concerned, he hopes to explore the possibility of using visits arranged on the occasion of seminars or other meetings to meet the country authorities and re-examine with them and other stakeholders the follow-up to any recommendations that may have been made. C. Communication of information and thematic studies 25. In the course of the first consultations that he held, the Special Rapporteur noted that the reports on communications sent to or received from governments were not easy to understand. He intends to consider the possibility of changing their format or wording in order to enable all stakeholders, including the governments concerned, to use such reports for follow-up purposes. 26. In addition to communications sent to or received from governments and the country visits, the Special Rapporteur will seek to engage in activities aimed at consolidating the mass of information accumulated by his predecessors and will consider new activities that will provide the opportunity to analyse and understand more clearly 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 (hereinafter the “Declaration on Human Rights Defenders”), as well as numerous aspects of the work of human rights defenders and the difficulties that they have to overcome. 27. The Special Rapporteur considers that the 2006 report by one of his predecessors relating to progress made and the main obstacles to the implementation of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders is an important analytical tool and he therefore intends to bring it up to date. This updating will be based on information from governments, national human rights institutions, specialized institutions of the United Nations system and civil society organizations, among others. It will be an important undertaking, which will culminate in the formulation of targeted recommendations, specific to each country, making it possible to strengthen the protection of human rights defenders in more than 120 States. The Special Rapporteur will publish a compilation of best practices as an annex to this report. 28. The Special Rapporteur intends to make action against the culture of impunity a central feature of his activities. He will undertake research into the matter and will show in one of his future reports that the de facto impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of reprisals against human rights defenders is one of the reasons that the incidence of impunity is on the increase. 29. A number of complaints by human rights defenders about alleged violations of their rights are not investigated or are shelved. A State’s failure to investigate violations may be seen as condoning the behaviour of the perpetrators of attacks and may nurture an environment where further attacks are perceived as being tolerated. The previous Special 6 GE.14-25280