A/HRC/24/55 I. Introduction 1. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993, underlined the importance of preserving and strengthening the system of special procedures and specified that the procedures and mechanisms should be enabled to harmonize and rationalize their work through periodic meetings.1 In recognition of the contribution of the twentieth anniversary of the Vienna Declaration to the special procedures system, the twentieth meeting of special rapporteurs, representatives, independent experts and chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures of the Human Rights Council was exceptionally held in Vienna from 24 to 28 June 2013. 2. Special procedures mandate holders thanked the Government of Austria for hosting their annual meeting in Vienna and expressed their appreciation for its recognition of the crucial role played by mandate holders in the implementation of the outcome of the World Conference on Human Rights. They also thanked the Government and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for facilitating their participation in the Conference on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary. 3. During the annual meeting, mandate holders exchanged views with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the President of the Human Rights Council. Meetings were held with representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), European human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). A number of issues relating to working methods was discussed. II. Organization of work 4. The Chairperson of the nineteenth annual meeting and of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, Michel Forst, opened the meeting. He referred to the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and its importance for the special procedures system and welcomed the recently appointed mandate holders, who were participating for the first time. 5. The Chief of the Special Procedures Branch updated participants on recent developments in the United Nations human rights system and the work of OHCHR. Since the end of June 2012, three new country mandates had been created to address the situation in Belarus, Eritrea and, most recently, Mali. As a result, there were currently 49 mandates, including 6 five-member working groups, bringing the number of mandate holders to 73.2 6. In 2012, special procedures carried out 80 visits to 55 countries or territories, while the number of States issuing a standing invitation for visits rose to 94. Special procedures sent 603 communications to 127 States regarding concerns over specific individuals and situations. Seventy-five per cent of those were issued jointly. The response rate by States, however, remained disappointingly low at around 40 per cent. 1 2 4 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), part II, para. 95. The mandate holder on the Syrian Arab Republic will take office when the Commission of Inquiry on that country has concluded its work.