A/HRC/10/60 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 6/6 of 28 September 2007 entitled “Promotion of the enjoyment of the cultural rights of everyone and respect for cultural diversity”, requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights “to consult States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations on the content and scope of the mandate of the independent expert in the field of cultural rights, the basis of which would be the comprehensive implementation of the present resolution, and to report on the results of those consultations to the Council in accordance with its annual programme of work”. 2. On 2 June 2008, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights sent a request to Member States and intergovernmental organizations for their views and contributions. A letter inviting contributions from non-governmental organizations was also sent out. 3. Replies were received from the Governments of Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Egypt, Guatemala, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey. Contributions were also received from UNESCO and the Observatory for Cultural Diversity and Cultural Rights,1 which is a network of institutes, non-governmental organizations and experts based at the Interdisciplinary Institute for Ethics and Human Rights, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. 4. The present report summarizes the submissions by Governments, UNESCO and by the coalition of non-governmental organizations and institutes, and makes some concluding remarks on the basis of the information and suggestions received. II. RESPONSES FROM GOVERNMENTS Algeria 5. The submission by Algeria underscored the importance of cultural rights and the lack of attention generally paid to them. Algeria described its efforts towards realizing cultural rights, and identified some challenges to the full enjoyment of cultural rights and the respect for cultural diversity. Algeria supported the establishment of an independent expert, underscoring that it would enhance the promotion of cultural rights. The reply also identified some thematic areas that the mandate of the independent expert could include: the issue of international cultural cooperation; the cultural gaps created by the unequal distribution of new information and 1 The following non-governmental organizations associated themselves with this submission: ATD Fourth World; Points-Coeur; International Council of Women; Baha’i International Community; Catholic Child Bureau; Organisation internationale pour le droit á l’éducation et la liberté d’enseignement (OIDEL). Experts from the “Groupe de Fribourg” also contributed.