A/HRC/39/49 II. Activities of the Working Group 6. During the period under review, the Working Group held three regular sessions: two in Geneva and one in New York. It held meetings with representatives of States, civil society partners and external experts. A. Thirty-second, thirty-third and thirty-fourth sessions of the Working Group and new members 7. The thirty-second session of the Working Group took place in Geneva from 27 November to 1 December 2017. On 30 November 2017, the Working Group held an expert consultation on the recruitment of children by non-State armed groups, including mercenaries, and private military and security companies. The Working Group is grateful to all the participants who contributed to the discussion. 8. The thirty-third session took place in Geneva from 3 to 6 April 2018. During the session, members of the Working Group held bilateral meetings with representatives of Member States and other relevant interlocutors. 9. On 30 April 2018, the term of office of Working Group members Patricia Arias, Elzbieta Karska and Anton Katz officially ended. These members had served the Working Group for just over six years and had made valuable contributions to various initiatives and activities under the Working Group’s mandate. 10. On 1 May 2018, the Human Rights Council, at its thirty-seventh session, appointed three new members of the Working Group: Lilian Bobea (Dominican Republic), Chris Kwaja (Nigeria) and Jelena Aparac (Croatia). The Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group, Mr. Rona, extended a warm welcome to the new members and a teleconference was held between the outgoing and incoming members to exchange information and share ideas about the Working Group’s mandate. B. Country visits 11. Country visits form a central aspect of the work of the Working Group. Visits provide an opportunity for the Working Group to consult in situ with Government officials and other actors in the country on issues related to its mandate. Through country visits, the Working Group can also identify and facilitate the exchange of good practices. Despite various visit requests and efforts made to follow up on the pending requests, the Working Group has been facing challenges in receiving timely and favourable responses from States to its requests for country visits. In this regard, the Working Group would like to recall Human Rights Council resolution 16/21, in which the Council urged States to cooperate and assist special procedures by responding in a timely manner to requests for information and visits. The Working Group therefore calls upon all States, particularly those that have extended standing invitations to special procedure mandate holders, to give serious consideration to responding favourably to its requests for country visits. 12. During the reporting period, the Working Group conducted official visits to Ghana, from 8 to 15 December 2017 (see A/HRC/39/49/Add.1), to Chad, from 16 to 23 April 2018 (see A/HRC/39/49/Add.2), and to Austria, from 21 to 29 June 2018. C. Other activities of the Working Group members 13. On 16 November 2017, the Chairperson-Rapporteur, Mr. Rona, participated as a speaker in a panel event entitled “Private military companies: armies of the future?”. The event was organized by the King’s Think Tank at King’s College London. Mr. Rona delivered a presentation on the findings of the Working Group in relation to private military and security companies, including the regulatory gaps in national legislation relating to these companies; the United Nations stance on private military and security companies; and the way forward for the Working Group. During the event Mr. Rona also provided his 4