A/HRC/24/38 I. Introduction 1. “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.” Article 21(3), Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 2. “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” Article 1, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). 3. “Democracy is based on the freely expressed will of the people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.” Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, paragraph 8. 4. This report of the Independent Expert is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolutions 18/6 and 21/9, covering multiple aspects of the mandate, with emphasis on the fostering of full, equitable and effective participation. II. Activities 5. In the period from 1 August 2012 to 14 June 2013, the Independent Expert deployed manifold activities directly associated with the different aspects of the mandate. He forwarded two questionnaires to States, intergovernmental organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations. He expresses thanks for all responses received. 6. On 16 May 2013, he convened an expert consultation in Geneva with the aim of gathering inputs for this report. On 6 June 2013, he convened a consultation on global enforcement mechanisms as a means to achieve an international order, which will be subject of his report to the General Assembly. 7. He was invited to and participated in numerous events pertinent to the mandate during the twenty-first, twenty-second and twenty-third sessions of the Council. While in New York to present his first report to the General Assembly in October 2012, he had the opportunity to meet with numerous Permanent Missions, United Nations Special Procedures mandate holders and other stakeholders. 8. He further took part in other events related to his mandate: (a) From 1–3 October 2012, he delivered a paper on democratic governance at the Council’s Social Forum on people-centered development and globalization.1 (b) From 4–5 December 2012, he participated in the first annual Forum on Business and Human Rights. (c) As a follow-up to a closed expert meeting on the Advisory Committee Declaration on the right to peace held 26–27 November 2012 in Caux-Sur-Montreux, Switzerland, which he attended, he took part in the first session of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on a Draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace in February 2013. 1 Martin Khor, “Globalization and the South”, Third World Network, Penang 2002. 3