A/HRC/S-7/2 page 6 II. Organization of work of the seventh special session 1. Pursuant to paragraph 10 of General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006, and in accordance with rule 6 of the rules of procedure of the Human Rights Council as contained in Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, the Council shall hold special sessions, when needed, at the request of a member of the Council with the support of one third of the membership of the Council. 2. In a letter dated 8 May 2008, addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/S-7/1), the Permanent Representative of Cuba requested the convening of a special session of the Council on 23 May 2008 to consider and take action on the negative impact on the realization of the right to food of the worsening of the world food crisis, caused inter alia by soaring food prices. 3. The letter, received by the President on the same day, was accompanied by signatures in support of the above-mentioned request from the following 41 States members of the Council: Angola, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Cuba (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Djibouti, Egypt (on behalf of the Group of African States), France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan (on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference), Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Romania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay and Zambia. Subsequently, Madagascar signed the request. 4. In addition to the above-mentioned States members of the Council, the request was also supported by the following observer States of the Council: Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Gambia, Greece, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Ireland, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Morocco, Mozambique, Norway, Palestine (on behalf of the Group of Arab States), Panama, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, the Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Republic of Tanzania, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Subsequently Argentina, New Zealand and Thailand signed the request. 5. As more than one third of the membership of the Council supported the above-mentioned request, the special session of the Council was convened on 22 May 2008, following further consultations on the date proposed in the request. A. Opening and duration of the session 6. The Council held its seventh special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 22 May 2008. It held two meetings during the session. 7. The seventh special session was opened by the President of the Council.