A/HRC/23/29 human rights movement that was finding a common direction and expanding the space for accommodating the plurality of concerns expressed. 31. Ms. Jilani mentioned the creation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as amongst the more significant achievements of the Conference. Its creation, and the way it developed over the previous twenty years, had undoubtedly given human rights a more prominent place within the United Nations. She praised the leadership of the various High Commissioners in that regard. She also referred to the quality of service provided to treaty bodies and special procedures mechanisms. She mentioned the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the creation of a mechanism on the situation of human rights defenders as significant steps following the Vienna Declaration. 32. Ms. Jilani noted that serious violations of human rights had not ceased. Despite progress towards democratic rule, political and economic conditions in many countries remained volatile. Little had been done by Governments to build the capacity of the State to protect. The politics of identity, greater difficulties in the management of pluralism and diversity, increasing poverty and the diminishing role of the State in providing social security still challenged the ability of human rights system to provide the means through which rights could be realized. 33. Ms. Jilani stated that the Vienna Conference was only a beginning and that more efficient coordination within the United Nations was needed. There was also a need to build on the commitments made in Vienna to strengthen the collective capacity to preserve human dignity, prevent discrimination and violence, and continue to strive for a world order with equality, justice and freedom for all. E. Special Advisor of the Conseil National des Droits de l'Homme du Maroc and participant in the World Conference 34. The Special Advisor of the Conseil National des Droits de l’homme du Maroc (National Human Rights Council of Morocco), Mr. Albert Sasson, recalled his participation in the Vienna Conference as a member of the Moroccan delegation. He stated that, with the creation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the adventure of promotion and protection of human rights at the national institution level was embarked upon. At the time there was a need to define the role of national institutions as institutions independent of Government. Now, he stated, not only were there more than 60 such institutions, whose statutes were in keeping with the Paris principles, financially independent from Governments, but there was also the International Coordinating Committee to help strengthen the resources available to national human rights agencies. 35. Mr. Sasson highlighted the fact that the Vienna Conference provided the impetus, and triggered the mechanism allowing progress. Morocco for example, currently had a national human rights council which was no longer of an advisory nature, and human rights were reflected in the Moroccan Constitution. 36. Mr. Sasson stated that one of achievements of the Vienna Conference was to introduce human rights education into the teaching of all those disciplines that conveyed human rights education so that students would know what their rights and duties were. He also stated that another achievement of the Vienna Conference, which was made possible due to resources given by the European Commission, was the establishment of a national programme to promote human rights culture and mainstream human rights in public life. He concluded by stating that Vienna was not only the beginning of a process but continued to guide the future. 9