A/HRC/7/29 page 2 REPORT OF THE FOURTEENTH MEETING OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS/ REPRESENTATIVES, INDEPENDENT EXPERTS AND CHAIRPERSONS OF WORKING GROUPS OF THE SPECIAL PROCEDURES OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL AND OF THE ADVISORY SERVICES PROGRAMME (GENEVA, 18-22 JUNE 2007) Rapporteur: Vernor Muñoz Villalobos Summary The fourteenth annual meeting of special procedures was held in Geneva from 18 to 22 June 2007. During the meeting, mandate-holders had exchanges of views with the High Commissioner, the Deputy High Commissioner, the former President of the Human Rights Council and the facilitator of the Working Group of the Council on the universal periodic review (UPR) mechanism. Participants also met with representatives of non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions, and held a joint meeting with participants in the nineteenth meeting of persons chairing human rights treaty bodies. Participants elected Gay McDougall Chairperson of the fourteenth annual meeting and of the Coordination Committee. Vernor Muñoz Villalobos was elected Rapporteur of the meeting and member of the Coordination Committee. Yakin Ertürk, Okechukwu Ibeanu and Miloon Kothari were elected members of the Committee. The former Chairperson, Vitit Muntarbhorn, is an ex-officio member. Participants focused their discussions on the outcome of the institution-building process of the Human Rights Council. They welcomed the improvements to the human rights system brought about by the institution-building process, in particular the UPR mechanism. Concerning UPR, the importance of the participation of civil society and human rights mechanisms in the process was described as crucial for its effectiveness. The desirability of engaging actively in the implementation of the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in its resolution 5/2 was highlighted by many. Participants in the annual meeting decided to request the Coordination Committee to draft and present at its fifteenth meeting an appropriate procedure by which the Code of Conduct and other relevant documents, including the Manual, could be best implemented. They also decided that, in the meantime, the Committee would give appropriate consideration to any matter concerning the working methods of mandate-holders brought to its attention (see annex II). When discussing the draft revised Manual for Special Procedures mandate-holders, participants decided to ask a number of mandate-holders, through the Committee, to look into comments received from stakeholders, as well as into the implications of the Code of Conduct, and to revise the Manual accordingly. It was agreed that the Manual would reflect some of the issues discussed during the meeting, including issues related to the cooperation of special procedures with regional human rights mechanisms, non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions. When discussing approaches to thematic and country situations, participants stressed the need to strengthen coordination between geographic and thematic mandates. The need to look at