A/HRC/41/45 8. On 24 May 2018, the Independent Expert was a keynote speaker at the IDENTITY Conference. He attended and presented a keynote speech at the fourth regional conference organized by Pan Africa ILGA [International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association], held in Gaborone from 31 May to 4 June 2018. On 18 June 2018, he gave a presentation in Geneva on the occasion of the trans advocacy week organized by the Asia Pacific Transgender Network, Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE), the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL) and Transgender Europe. On 29 June 2018, he took part in, and delivered a keynote presentation at, the high-level meeting organized by the Humanistic Institute for Development Cooperation (Hivos) on opportunities and challenges in the context of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, held in San José. On 7 August 2018, he participated in a panel discussion during an event entitled “Leaving no one behind: Canada’s Role in Advancing LGBTQ2 Human Rights Globally”, held by the Vancouver branch of the Canadian International Council. On 27 October 2018 he delivered a keynote presentation at the annual conference of ILGA-Europe, held in Brussels. On 18 January 2019 he took part in a roundtable discussion on equality and non-discrimination focused on sexual orientation and gender identity, organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. On 5 February 2019 he delivered a presentation at Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, United States of America. He was a panellist at the consultation on human rights in the HIV response, an event held in Geneva on 12 and 13 February 2019. He was a keynote speaker at the annual research symposium held by the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs in Washington, D.C., on 4 March 2019. He delivered a presentation at an event co-hosted by the Council of Global Equality, the Human Rights Campaign and the Better World Campaign on 7 March 2019. He participated in the ILGA-World Conference, held in New Zealand from 17 to 22 March, including through the delivery of a keynote speech on decriminalization of same-sex relations. 9. In keeping with the active outreach approach that he is setting as a standard for the mandate, the Independent Expert gave 12 in-depth interviews, joined or issued a total of eight press releases and maintained an active social media presence throughout the period. In order to ensure ongoing dialogue with States Members of the United Nations he joined or initiated a total of 23 communications, in which allegations of human rights violations in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity were raised or by which he sought to provide technical advice on legislation and policies. 10. For the preparation of the present report the Independent Expert sought views and encouraged input through various channels and from various stakeholders. On 4 February 2019, he issued a call for written submissions; he received around 90, including around 30 from Member States and many from civil society organizations, national human rights institutions, ombudspersons, academics and United Nations agencies, funds and programmes. He held a public consultation, open to Member States, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes and all other interested stakeholders, in Geneva on 13 February 2019; the following day, he held, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a meeting of experts with the aim of creating a crossdisciplinary discussion. In order to ensure accessibility for stakeholders based outside Geneva, the mandate holder held online consultations in English, French and Spanish in different time zones on 27 and 28 February, and 5 and 6 March 2019. The mandate holder is impressed by the quality and quantity of inputs involved in the consultation undertaken for the report. Given the richness of the information received throughout the process, the submissions will be published on the official webpage of the mandate, with the exception of submissions for which the author specifically requested the input to be kept confidential. 3 11. The Independent Expert is indebted to the vast group of entities, organizations and individuals who are committed to supporting his work and who have so significantly contributed to it. 3 4 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SexualOrientationGender/Pages/ReportOnData.aspx.