A/HRC/37/77 key and that it was important to sensitize the younger generation to racial discrimination and the need for tolerance and inclusion. 17. The representative of South Africa stated that a lot of work remained to be done to address racism and called on States to embrace the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. IV. Discussion on the measures to be taken to enhance the effectiveness of the follow-up mechanisms to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and to ensure better synergy and complementarities in the work of these mechanisms, in line with article 124 of the Outcome Document of the Durban Review Conference 18. The Working Group invited the group of independent eminent experts to participate in its fifteenth session with a view to ensuring the effective participation and optimal utilization of its mandate. The Working Group and the members of group of the independent eminent experts discussed the function and mandate of the group and the way in which the two mechanisms could work effectively together. 19. Ms. Crickley outlined the approach taken by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to ensure better synergies and complementarities regarding the Durban mechanisms. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination favoured a direct engagement on an annual basis with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and attempts to work together on common issues. 20. She noted that the meeting of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies, created with the purpose of ensuring complementarity, had been particularly useful in providing space for discussions between groups, and that complementarity, both horizontally and vertically, should be seen as a way of reinforcing the mechanisms within the United Nations system. 21. Ms. Santos Roland reminded participants that the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action gave a mandate to the group of independent eminent experts to follow up on its implementation. The group was composed of five experts who worked independently in their personal capacity and were responsible for following up on the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in their respective regions. 22. The Working Group, however, had a specific mandate to receive all information regarding the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, by allowing discussions in which Member States were able to share their experience of implementation. 23. The representative of Zimbabwe, on behalf of the Chair-Rapporteur of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, shared his support for the imperative need for closer cooperation between the three Durban follow-up mechanisms. He also informed participants of the decision of the Human Rights Council to implement the request of the General Assembly, contained in its resolution 71/181, addressed to the Chair-Rapporteur of the Ad Hoc Committee, to ensure the commencement of negotiations on the draft additional protocol to the Convention criminalizing acts of a racist and xenophobic nature during the tenth session of the Ad Hoc Committee. He also highlighted paragraph 5 of resolution 71/181, in which the General Assembly had expressed its concern at the lack of progress in the elaboration of complementary standards to the Convention. 4

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