A/HRC/16/43 he travelled to Brussels where he held a series of meetings with key counterparts in the European Union, including the Directorate-General of External Relations of the Commission, the Council Secretariat, the Directorate General for Enlargement, the Chair of the Development Committee of the European Parliament, and the Director General of the Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission (ECHO). 21. In the context of his cooperation with the World Bank, the mandate-holder has been closely involved in the design of their IDP programme, which aims to strengthen the capacity of its national offices to contribute to durable solutions for IDPs, and participated in a review of the program which took place on 17 June 2010. 22. During the reporting period, the mandate also benefited from regular exchanges and cooperation with a number of international and civil society organizations, whether in Geneva, New York or the various countries he visited. He maintained cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), both at the Headquarters level, and in the field, and was very pleased once again in June 2010 to participate in an open dialogue session with its representatives in Geneva on issues of mutual concern. The Special Rapporteur expresses his appreciation for the excellent cooperation between the mandate and the Committee to date, and the Vice President’s recent invitation to continue the regular dialogue sessions in the future. The Special Rapporteur is also appreciative of the ongoing cooperation between the mandate and other civil society actors, including the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), and will seek to continue enhancing this close cooperation including through the regular exchange of information, and future projects and possible capacity-building and training activities. D. Country engagement Armenia 23. At the invitation of the Government of Armenia, the Representative conducted a follow-up visit to the country on 17 and 18 September 2010. He had visited Armenia in 2007. Many IDPs in Armenia have integrated well into their host communities, but a considerable number still live in difficult circumstances, after nearly 20 years of displacement, while others have not been able to return to their homes in the border regions due to the lack of shelter and livelihood opportunities. Since 2007, the Government has been developing a programme to facilitate the return of internally displaced persons to border regions. During his visit, the Representative had the opportunity to discuss the programme with authorities and make some recommendations on revisions to the project proposal. The Representative also visited IDP communities from Artsvashen in the Dprabak village and the Chambarak town in the Gegharkurnik region. Azerbaijan 24. The Representative carried out a follow-up mission to Azerbaijan from 19 to 24 May 2010 (A/HRC/16/43/Add.2), a country he last visited in 2007. While encouraged by significant progress since his last mission, such as the closing of tented camps, the Representative remained concerned by the protracted nature of the displacement, which continues to affect the human rights of close to 600,000 IDPs, nearly two decades after the initial displacement. 25. The Government of Azerbaijan has provided significant resources towards the improvement of overall living conditions for its displaced population. This has resulted in better housing conditions for a number of internally displaced persons and a significant decline in the poverty rate among this sector of the population over the last five years. However, both old and new problems are affecting their rights, including access to adequate 7