A/HRC/28/81 23. At the 3rd meeting, the Chairperson of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, Mireille Fanon-Mendès-France, gave a presentation on the same agenda topic. At the 4th meeting, Karel Fracapane, of the Section of Health and Global Citizenship Education, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) briefed the Committee on the Organization’s work on that agenda topic. 24. For summaries of those presentations and the discussions with the meeting participants that followed, see annex I, section A. B. Questionnaire conducted pursuant to paragraph 4 of Human Rights Council resolution 21/30 25. At the 5th meeting, the Chairperson-Rapporteur provided an overview of the updated summary of the responses received to the recirculated questionnaire conducted pursuant to paragraph 4 of Human Rights Council resolution 21/30. In a note verbale of 21 July 2014, he had invited Permanent Missions in Geneva and New York that had not forwarded responses to the questionnaire, and had indicated that additional information from States that had previously responded to the questionnaire would be welcome. 26. An additional 13 replies had been received by the deadline of 19 September 2014. The Chairperson-Rapporteur suggested that the questionnaire and the summary of the replies be considered in a collective manner that could help the Ad Hoc Committee improve the information in the updated summary of responses, and look at weaknesses and make suggestions to address them. Both approaches to the work of the Committee — through an additional convention or without one — were important as long as improved conditions for victims were the result. 27. The Chairperson-Rapporteur introduced the document that summarized the responses to the questionnaire and invited participants to reflect on how to proceed with the outcome and how to take the issue of the questionnaire forward. The responses were still not representative; they were anecdotal, but were nevertheless useful for the various aspects of the discussion. The original replies received to the questionnaire were available on the OHCHR website. 28. The Chairperson-Rapporteur posed various questions, referring to the role of institutions and legislation, constitutional provisions, remedies for victims and positive measures. He pointed out that most of the new replies provided interesting information on the issue of xenophobia, which appeared to be a concern affecting many countries around the world. In that regard he inquired about initiatives undertaken at the national level, and asked whether it was possible that some countries or regions did not face issues related to xenophobia. He inquired about the difference between hate crimes and xenophobic crimes, and asked whether xenophobia was a sentiment or a motivation for an act. He invited participants to consider xenophobia as a spectrum. The Chairperson-Rapporteur also asked whether combating extremism was the same as combating discrimination and xenophobia, inquired about the effectiveness of national mechanisms, and asked whether the definition of “national mechanism” should be understood narrowly or construed broadly and whether the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was effective, especially with respect to xenophobia. He also asked which recommendations of that Committee had been implemented by States and whether reservations were proving to be a significant obstacle for the implementation of the Convention. 29. The representative of the European Union made preliminary comments, expressing disappointment that the rate of response to the questionnaire remained low. She emphasized that some regions continued to be underrepresented in those responses, and that the European Union would like to hear from them. Pointing to the importance of the 7