A/HRC/28/81 I. Introduction 1. The Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards submits the present report pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 3/103 and resolutions 6/21 and 10/30. II. Organization of the session 2. The Ad Hoc Committee held its sixth session from 7 to 17 October 2014. During the session, the Committee held 15 meetings. A. Attendance 3. The session was attended by representatives of Member States, non-Member States represented by observers, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. B. Opening of the session 4. The 1st meeting of the sixth session of the Ad Hoc Committee was opened by the Chief of the Anti-Discrimination Section, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights made an opening statement in which he recalled that the Committee’s work was to think of ways to strengthen the protection of all persons from the scourges of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, as articulated in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, which continued to guide the work of the Office. The task of the Committee was to indicate how the international community could ensure greater decency — greater dignity, equality and fairness — for the millions of victims of those violations. He expressed confidence that the Committee would achieve more progress during the session, fulfil its mandate and move forward, providing guidance on ways to address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance more effectively. C. Election of the Chairperson-Rapporteur 5. At the 1st meeting, the Ad Hoc Committee elected Abdul Samad Minty, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations Office at Geneva, as its ChairpersonRapporteur, by acclamation. 6. The Chairperson-Rapporteur thanked the High Commissioner for his participation and his opening statement, and thanked the Committee for his own re-election, noting that he would work collectively with all partners and members of the Committee. In paragraph 199 of the Durban Programme of Action, the World Conference had recommended that the Commission on Human Rights prepare complementary international standards to strengthen and update international instruments against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in all their aspects. The Committee’s discussions would be continued with the incremental approach adopted in previous sessions, offering members the opportunity to further reflect on and understand issues to be discussed, as well as their link to the mandate of the Committee and paragraph 199 of the Programme of Action. The format of the outcome of the session would be determined by 3