A/HRC/43/64 States’ cooperation, including the number of standing invitations, the number of visits in 2019, the number of visits in the past five years, 4 States never visited, the number of communications by country and responses received (A/HRC/43/64/Add.1, chaps. X and XV). Online information related to the status of country visits and related requests is regularly updated.5 42. Positive developments were reflected, such as the fact that seven standing invitations were recorded (by Comoros, Malaysia, Saint Lucia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), one State accepted several visits for the first time (Vanuatu) and two States were visited for the first time (Lesotho and Zimbabwe) (A/HRC/43/64/Add.1, chap. VII). States that had not accepted visits for a long time opened their doors to mandate holders. The number of States that had never received a visit by a mandate holder was reduced to 22 (16 of them had received requests for a visit). Each year, on average, special procedures conduct approximately 80 visits to different States. The geographical coverage of the visits undertaken in 2019 also shows that mandate holders visit all regions in a balanced manner. Some States received more than one visit by thematic mandate per year and 19 States received five or more visits in the past five years (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Greece, Honduras, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America). 43. In relation to country mandates, some countries, like Cambodia, the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia and the Sudan, gave access to the country mandate, while Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel and Myanmar did not accept their visits. Even in such situations, there were some differences, with some States refusing any engagement while others engaged with mandate holders outside country visits. 44. While some States devoted considerable efforts to developing constructive cooperation with mandate holders, others continued to refuse their visits or accepted only a select few. A total of 60 countries had not yet received a visit by a special procedure during the past five years, although 39 had received at least one request. Twelve countries did not accept a visit despite having five or more pending requests during the same period. Cooperation could also be partial or selective. For example, some States only cooperated with a select few special procedures, or responded to communications but did not accept visits in spite of having extended standing invitations. 45. Accepting a visit is only the beginning of a process of cooperation encompassing constructive engagement before, during and after the visit, respect for the terms of reference for such visits and the implementation of the recommendations issued by mandate holders. In some cases, mandate holders faced challenges with regard to being granted, as set out in the terms of reference, the necessary freedom of movement during the visit and private access to victims and independent civil society, which in some cases led to the suspension or postponement of the visit. The assessment of cooperation by States also takes into account other aspects of the work of special procedures, such as communications and States responses thereto. 46. At their twenty-sixth annual meeting, the special procedure mandate holders agreed on the need to detail further the different status of a country visit request to allow for a more accurate assessment of the cooperation between mandate holders and States. With the assistance of OHCHR, a new web page providing more detailed information on the status of preparation and completion of country visits was then developed. The web page also provides information on the action taken by mandate holders and by States concerned. In addition, it was agreed that mandate holders would review once a year the list of pending country visit requests sent to States, either by themselves or by their predecessors, and send reminders to those States where visits remained a priority for the mandate holder. 4 5 The information related to the past five years in the present report covers the period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019. See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/CountryandothervisitsSP.aspx. 9