A/HRC/28/81 Racism. He added that INADI’s history is strongly linked to the Durban process, during which Argentina committed to drawing up a national plan against racism. Since the inception of that plan, equality had become a cross-cutting policy issue in Argentina. 87. He explained that INADI was a decentralized organization, present in all of Argentina’s provinces and had a staff of 470 civil servants working full time.. It was governed by an advisory body (10 representatives of civil society) and a board (that also included representatives of the States and civil society). While the president and the vice president were nominated by parliament, INADI, although a state institution enjoyed considerable independence and had its own budget. Working under the Human Rights Secretariat, the institute focused on two issues: i) the substantive matters of discrimination; and ii) the receipt of complaints, that were followed up by the delivery of opinions. He underscored the fact that INADI had cross-cutting mandate – addressing many areas of life. 88. The goal of INADI was to change societal behaviour which has a human rights or discriminatory approach and that its substantive work was directed at the promotion of equality. The institute cooperated closely with civil society organizations that fought discrimination and it also coordinated civil society networks. The institute also monitored legislative proposals. He cited three laws as particularly noteworthy: The 2004 Migration Act, the Equal Marriage Act, and the General Equality Act. 89. He underscored the fact that every kind of discrimination was considered a State matter in Argentina, and that INADI was consulted on bills before their submission to Parliament. He also highlighted INADI’s work in the area of awareness-raising, including specialized materials which integrated non-discriminatory practices. Mr. Mouratian also commented on the issue of invisibility of people of African descent in Argentina, noting that these communities although historically large in number, now were a much smaller population, often hidden from view. He stated that the national institution for statistics and the national census were gathering statistics and those measures were aimed at awarenessraising and to reaching these communities which had been victims of serious discrimination over the centuries. 90. Mr. Mouratian told delegates that one of the problematic issues in Argentina was discrimination in football and that INADI was targeting it by observing football matches. INADI also conducted awareness-raising campaigns together with UNICEF and cooperated with sports journalists to spread anti-discrimination messages. He explained that this work was proving successful. In 2010, one third of all football matches had to be suspended due to discrimination and xenophobia, while now only one of six matches was suspended. 91. During the discussion which followed, Pakistan inquired whether guidelines or complementary standards at the international level were required to achieve uniformity of objectives so that countries had a standard by which to assess their national situation. Mr. Mouratian noted that each country was different, that there were many laws already in place, and that was important to use those laws and conventions in order to promote national legislation. 92. Further to Mr. Mouratian’s presentation, the European Union underscored its full commitment to the rights of LGBT persons and recognized the important role played by civil society in this regard. The delegate further stressed the importance of national mechanisms and inquired if guidelines for setting up new national mechanisms would be useful. Mr. Mouratian agreed that national mechanisms were of importance, acknowledged the UN’s role in assisting the creation of such institutions and national plans, and also emphasised the importance of networking among those institutions to create synergies and exchange experiences. 93. Asked about the role of the media by the European Union, Mr. Mouratian noted that the media played a key role in awareness-raising; however, media outlets could also create 40