A/HRC/10/16 page 23 IV. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT SINCE THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR 73. After assuming her functions on 1 August 2008, the Special Rapporteur participated in the International Expert Conference in Vienna, Austria, on Global Standards - Local Action to mark 15 Years of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights (VDPA +15), on 28 and 29 August 2008. She took part in the working group on the role of United Nations human rights mechanisms and OHCHR in the promotion and protection of human rights. 74. On 23 September 2008, the Special Rapporteur participated in a consultative meeting on the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Human Trafficking organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, where she gave a keynote address. 75. On 6 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur attended an orientation session for new special procedures mandate holders organized by the coordination committee of special procedures in Geneva. This meeting enabled her to consult and coordinate with fellow special rapporteurs and to get acquainted with the role of the coordination committee of special procedures. 76. On 7 and 8 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur attended a series of orientation briefings for newly appointed mandate holders organized by the Special Procedures Division of OHCHR in Geneva. 77. From 6 to 10 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur also held initial consultations with organizations in Geneva relevant to the mandate. She met with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, numerous representatives of permanent diplomatic missions, NGOs, ILO and IOM. In addition, she held a telephone conference with UNODC. 78. In October 2008, the Special Rapporteur sent out a questionnaire in English, French and Spanish to all Member States to gather some baseline information on the problem of trafficking, in order to inform her future work and to enable her priority-setting. 79. From 8 to 12 November, the Special Rapporteur participated in the 44th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, where she took part in a number of events, including initiating and working alongside other stakeholders on a resolution to combat human trafficking in Africa. She also presented a paper on human rights and human trafficking in Africa at an event of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions and West African National Human Rights Institutions, hosted in Abuja on 10 November 2008 by the National Human Rights Commission Abuja and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). 80. From 17 to 20 November 2008, the Special Rapporteur attended the Sixth Africa Development Forum (ADF VI) in Addis Ababa entitled “Action on Gender Equality, Women’s Empowerment and Ending Violence Against Women in Africa” organized by the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Union and the African Development Bank. Among other activities during the conference, she presented a paper entitled “Trafficking and Exploitation of Women: Time for Regional Action to Stop the Traffic”. She also participated in the UNIFEM Pre-Conference activities on violence against women.