A/HRC/7/28 page 6 7. Also in March, she held a meeting with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 8. From 18 to 22 June, the Special Representative attended the Annual Meeting of Special Procedures in Geneva. 9. In October, the Special Representative presented her report to the General Assembly at its sixty-second session (A/62/225), in which she reiterated that the right to peaceful protest is a fully fledged right, which entails the enjoyment of a set of rights internationally recognized and reiterated in the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (General Assembly resolution 53/144, annex). These rights include freedom of expression and opinion, freedom of association, freedom of peaceful assembly, and trade unions’ rights, including the right to strike. The Special Representative particularly drew attention to article 12 of the Declaration that forms the basis for the protection of everyone against retaliation as a consequence of reacting against or opposing, through peaceful means or activities, any act of violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. 10. In October, she had a meeting with the Great Lakes and Southern Africa Team within the Africa Unit of the Department of Political Affairs in New York to present her mandate and raise concerns with regard to the situation of human rights defenders in that region. D. Cooperation with non-governmental organizations 11. The Special Representative continued her fruitful interaction with civil society at the national, regional and international levels. The Special Representative regrets that because of time constraints she was not able to participate in all conferences and seminars to which she was invited. On occasions where the Special Representative could not avail herself, she tried to have one staff member of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) working on the mandate participating in meetings and conferences, as at the 4th Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders and the 9th EU NGO Forum on Human Rights in Lisbon. 12. During the reporting period, the Special Representative participated in numerous events organized by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the Wilton Park Conference, the Carter Center Conference in Atlanta, the launch of the Manual on Women Human Rights Defenders in New York, the workshop of the Bar Human Rights Committee in London, the regional conference organized by the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development as well as the Conference on Women Human Rights Defenders organized by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) both held in Bangkok. II. FROM ACTION TO IMPACT: FOLLOW-UP TO THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE A. Introduction 13. After more than seven years since the establishment of the mandate on human rights defenders and her appointment in August 2000, the Special Representative expects this to be her last report to the Human Rights Council. During her tenure, the Special Representative gave