A/HRC/14/44 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. The other questions relating to the realization of economic and social rights and the role of local authorities (mayors, municipal district administration councils (CASEC), district administration assemblies (ASEC))2 will form the backbone of the next reports. The other matters taken up in the preceding report are still very relevant, especially in the present situation. B. Discharge of the mandate before 12 January 2010. 8. In accordance with the mandate established by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1995/70 and with Presidential Statement PRST/9/1, in which the Human Rights Council invited the new independent expert to undertake a mission to Haiti and report to it each year, the independent expert submits the present report to the Council at its fourteenth session. 9. The report covers the period from March 2009 to March 2010, during which the independent expert visited Haiti three times;3 he travelled to places away from the capital, including Gonaïves, Jérémie, les Abricots, Ouanaminthe, les Cayes and Cap Haïtien, and wishes to express his gratitude to the many Haitians whom he met during his visits; he also went to Paris, New York, Ottawa, Montreal and Geneva. 10. The independent expert wishes to thank the Haitian authorities, who enabled his mission to be carried out in the best conditions. He is grateful to President René Préval for the friendliness and warmth of his welcome and for his thoughts about the country’s future and to Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis and the other members of the Government and Parliament whom he met for the frankness of their observations. 11. The independent expert also met regularly on the spot with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and his deputy, and he wishes to thank all the members of their team, who afforded him effective support in terms of logistics, security and public relations. He also spoke regularly by telephone with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and several members of MINUSTAH between his visits and up to the early part of January 2010 for briefings on political, economic and security developments in Haiti. 12. The independent expert also thanks the officials of the main institutions of the United Nations and the Organization of American States whom he met and the members of diplomatic corps present in Port-au-Prince, with whom he exchanged views on a number of occasions concerning the role and action modalities of the international community in Haiti. 13. The members of the MINUSTAH Human Rights Section and Justice Section gave him unfailing support, both in Port-au-Prince and during his travels, and shared with him their assessment of the situation and the progress of the ongoing reforms. The independent expert wishes to state that these two sections are invaluable partners in the discharge of the mission entrusted to him by the Council. 14. The independent expert was also able to travel to New York, where he met representatives of the Group of Friends of Haiti and United Nations officials. He also spoke with Paul Farmer, the Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, and with members 2 The Republic of Haiti is divided into 10 departments, 41 arrondissements, 133 communes and 565 districts. 3 From 27 April to 9 May 2009; from 29 August to 7 September 2009; and from 23 November to 1 December 2009. GE.10-13204 (EXT) 5