A/HRC/31/74 willing to share experiences in dealing with those issues and looked forward to hearing contributions from all parts of the world. 15. The Ambassador of Ethiopia expressed his country’s support for the statement delivered by Algeria on behalf of the African Group. Ethiopia shared the view that, despite some progress made thus far by the Ad Hoc Committee to sort out the core issues that needed to be addressed, much remained to be done to implement fully its mandate in a more expeditious fashion. He recalled the mandate of the Committee, as recalled by the Council in its resolution 6/21. Although the Committee was not yet closer to the desired stage of elaborating the expected complementary standards due to various differences, Ethiopia believed that the sixth session of the Committee had been effective in identifying the major topics to be discussed, including at the current session. During the course of its deliberations, the Committee would be in a much better position to address those differences, in particular the key thematic issues of forms and measures of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. He reiterated the readiness of Ethiopia to engage cooperatively and constructively with all other delegations that pursue similar goals of further advancing the crucial collective tasks of elaborating the much-needed complementary standards the effective and efficient implementation of the Convention. 16. The representative of the United States of America underlined the commitment of his Government to the overarching topic of the session: combating racism and racial discrimination. He echoed earlier statements citing the fiftieth anniversary of the Convention and the International Decade for People of African Descent. He stated that recent events in the United States had highlighted the pertinence and timeliness of the Committee’s work on the important topic. He reiterated the long-standing position of his country that it saw no need for additional substantive binding international law instruments in this field. Nevertheless, it believed that the Committee’s mandate included the promotion of initiatives, such as consensus action plans. Although there were differences on some issues, the United States looked forward to a productive dialogue and to exchanging views during the sixth session of the Ad Hoc Committee. He hoped it would be useful for the Human Rights Council to consider the issue of the duration of the sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee, noting that nine days appeared to be more time than the Committee needed. 17. The Ambassador of Pakistan, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), recalled that, in 2007, resolution 6/21 recalled the mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee to elaborate, as a matter of priority and necessity, complementary standards in the form of either a convention or additional protocol(s) to the Convention, filling the existing gaps in the Convention, and providing new normative standards aimed at combating all forms of contemporary racism, including incitement to racial and religious hatred. Over the past six sessions, the Committee had held deliberations on several thematic areas. He took note of the thematic areas selected for the current session, in particular: presentation and discussion on the purpose of general recommendations by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; and the process leading to their issuance in the context of the effective implementation of the Convention, and any possible shortcomings. 18. The Ambassador of Pakistan noted with concern that the Ad Hoc Committee had not been able to achieve its core mandate, i.e., to elaborate complementary standards in the form of an additional protocol to the Convention. In the light of extensive deliberation of the past six sessions, OIC believed that there were procedural as well as substantive gaps in the Convention that may only be overcome by formulating an additional protocol. In the absence of such an additional protocol, measures taken by States would lack universality, uniformity, objectivity, coherence and adherence to international human rights norms and standards. He stated that OIC believed that the current session of the Committee should focus on streamlining the elements for an additional protocol, including, inter alia, establishing an inquiry procedure on the lines of other human rights instruments for the 6