A/HRC/18/41 I. Introduction 1. Annual meetings of special rapporteurs, representatives, independent experts and chairs of working groups of the special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Right Council have been held since 1994. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993, underlined the importance of preserving and strengthening the system of special procedures and specified that the procedures and mechanisms should be enabled to harmonize and rationalize their work through periodic meetings (A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), part II, para. 95). 2. Mandate holders exchanged views with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the President of the Human Rights Council, the facilitator of the Human Rights Council review segment relating to special procedures, and States. A joint meeting was convened with the twelfth inter-committee meeting of treaty bodies, and the special procedures mandate holders also met with representatives of United Nations entities, headquarters and field presences staff of the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), representatives of non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions. II. Organization of work 3. The meeting was opened by the Chair of the seventeenth annual meeting and Chair of the Coordination Committee of special procedures, Najat Maalla M’jid, She welcomed the recently appointed mandate holders, and expressed profound thanks to the outgoing mandate holders for their work and contributions. She also welcomed the observers to the meeting, including the Special Rapporteur on Disabilities of the Commission on Social Development of the Economic and Social Council. 4. The independent expert in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, was elected Chair of the eighteenth annual meeting and of the Coordination Committee; the independent expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, Michel Forst, was elected Rapporteur of the meeting and a member of the Coordination Committee. The Chair of the Working Group on the elimination of discrimination against women in law and in practice, Kamala Chandrakirana, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan Mendez, and the Chair of the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances, Jeremy Sarkin, were endorsed as the other three members of the Committee selected by the meeting Chair Maalla M’jid, who, as former Chairwill remain as an ex officio member during the coming year. 5. III. The provisional agenda was adopted as revised. Activities of the Coordination Committee 6. The Chair of the Coordination Committee briefed participants on the activities of the Committee in 2010/11, and made suggestions on how to strengthen the special procedures system. She thanked all mandate holders for their valuable contributions, and their encouragement and confidence throughout the year. 7. The Coordination Committee had focused on the engagement of the system with the Human Rights Council review and follow-up to the seventeenth annual meeting to improve working methods and cooperation with OHCHR. The Committee had ensured that the special procedures provided a joint contribution to the review, which emphasized their independence, cooperation by States, resources and the importance of the protection of persons cooperating with the special procedures system against reprisals. It had underlined the importance of the participation of mandate holders in the review process, including in 4