A/HRC/13/19 the fields of minority rights, gender equality, protection of children, promotion of democracy and rule of law, meeting the obligations under the Millennium Development Goals, supporting the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, cooperation with United Nations treaty bodies on both the monitoring of the implementation of international treaties and in the field of reform of those bodies, cooperation with the United Nations special procedures by maintaining an open invitation to mandate holders of thematic mandates, and supporting the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Ukraine [Original: Russian] [27 November 2009] The Government of Ukraine provided information on its contribution to international cooperation in the field of human rights by actively cooperating with various United Nations human rights mechanisms. It provided information on its treaty ratification status and its efforts to fulfil its obligations under these treaties by implementing them at the national level and periodically presenting its reports to the respective committees. Ukraine is a member of the Human Rights Council and considered its re-election in 2008 for a second term as the recognition by the international community of Ukraine’s successful engagement in the field of human rights at the international level. In 2008, Ukraine presented its report to the Working Group on Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, which was based on a constructive dialogue among States to achieve the highest standards of human rights. On the regional level, Ukraine is a member of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and actively participated in the regional mechanisms under those organizations. It is a party to regional human rights instruments, in particular the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Ukraine stated that it participated in a number of international and regional forums, as well as events organized at the bilateral level and by non-governmental organizations. Ukraine attached particular importance to meeting international standards regarding racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. In August 2006, it presented its report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and was working for the next report to be submitted in April 2010. Ukraine prioritized its work on the protection of minorities and, in this regard, it contributed to international cooperation by concluding multilateral and bilateral agreements. Ukraine implemented these agreements by bilateral jointmembership commissions, which were created at the government level by Ukraine and States that have ethnic communities in their countries (Slovakians, Hungarians, Romanians, Russians and, until 2001, deported Germans). These commissions, showing the contribution of Ukraine to implementing its obligations regarding the rights of national minorities, allowed it to provide for the national, cultural and linguistic needs of its compatriots living abroad. Regarding the fight against racism, Ukraine referred to the creation of an interdepartmental working group on xenophobia and racial intolerance by its Cabinet of Ministers, with the task to develop systematic approaches to prevention and to develop a proposal to improve legislation. This working group had developed and was implementing a plan of measures to combat racism and xenophobia for 2008–2009. This plan included developing bilateral cooperation with international organizations and law enforcement agencies of other countries in order to exchange information and experiences, and a forum was under preparation. Within the framework of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Ukraine was implementing a programme on training staff of law enforcement agencies, prosecution and courts on cases related to racism, xenophobia GE.10-10005 9