A/HRC/43/52 Visits and events 9. Official visits were carried out to Argentina in May and the Republic of Korea in July. Preliminary findings were released at the conclusion of each visit. 10. The Special Rapporteur undertook study visits and attended international events, including the regional conference on data protection in Africa, held in Ghana in June, and the forty-first International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, held in Tirana in October. II. Security and surveillance International Intelligence Oversight Forum 11. On 8 and 9 October, the Special Rapporteur organized the fourth edition of the International Intelligence Oversight Forum, in London. Over 170 delegates from independent oversight agencies, parliamentary committees and intelligence services in over 40 countries engaged in candid discussions about best practices to improve the protection of privacy through the oversight of surveillance. 12. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for its crucial support. He encourages all Member States to respond to the invitations extended through their permanent missions in Geneva and participate in the Forum. The next gathering is scheduled for late October 2020. Encryption 13. The Special Rapporteur is working on a multi-stakeholder initiative in response to some nations’ well-intentioned but fatally flawed calls for corporations to weaken or halt individual access to strong encryption. Individual cases 14. The Special Rapporteur has devoted significant time and resources to dealing with individual cases related to surveillance, including those initiated following complaints by Julian Assange and the President of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno. Investigations are ongoing and will be reported on separately, as appropriate. III. Gender equality and the right to privacy 15. Everyone, irrespective of their biological sex, sex characteristics, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, is entitled to the full enjoyment of the right to privacy. For some, their gender2 entails a particular reliance upon States and non-State actors to facilitate access to their right to privacy and to protect them from infringements. 16. Privacy enables the full development of the person, while protecting against harms that stunt human development, innovation and creativity, such as violence, discrimination and the loss of the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. 17. Privacy and gender have long been regarded as second-order considerations, but their complex impact on society is of critical importance. Recognizing that significance is imperative to delivering the pledge within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind and reach the furthest behind first. 18. The Special Rapporteur requires the integration of a gender perspective into all the work in pursuance of the mandate. He has therefore incorporated a gender perspective into 2 All references to gender herein should be read to mean inclusive of cisnormativity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics and the social norms attributed to biological characteristics. 3