A/HRC/2/2 A/HRC/Sub.1/58/36 page 98 80. The value of the Sub-Commission as a venue for the gathering of ideas can be seen in its historic work on issues such as human rights and scientific and technological developments, human rights and biodiversity, human rights and the human genome, and human rights in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Without the input from a group of experts from all regions of the world, it is hard to see how the United Nations could have cultivated an understanding of ongoing, or emerging, human rights issues, or have developed policies, prescriptions and norms for addressing them. 81. The partnership between a group of experts and governmental bodies is also reflected in the fact that when the original system of periodic reporting by Member States on human rights was consolidated in 1965 by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1074 C (XXXIX), the Sub-Commission, then called the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, was requested to undertake the initial study of the materials submitted and to make comments and recommendations thereon to the Commission. 82. In its annual deliberations on developments relating to the prevention of discrimination, equality between men and women, the protection of minorities, and the promotion and protection of human rights, the Sub-Commission has benefited from inputs received from other United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental bodies and regional organizations, national human rights institutions and NGOs. This expert global review, undertaken together with partner institutions, has made the Sub-Commission a leading forum for discussion and debate on a broad spectrum of human rights issues. The world of human rights insights and expertise has assembled at the Sub-Commission. 83. It may also be recalled that the Sub-Commission made major contributions, both to the preparation of world conferences on human rights as well as through active participation in and follow-up to these conferences. Foremost among these were the International Conference on Human Rights held in Tehran in 1968, the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993, and the two World Conferences Against Racism in 1978 and 1983 in Geneva, and the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. 84. Recently concluded and ongoing studies of the Sub-Commission also address important and emerging issues, such as administration of justice through military tribunals, responsibilities of non-State actors, and the links between human rights law and international humanitarian law. 85. In recalling the past, reflecting on the present and contemplating the future, and in the light of this overview, it would be reasonable to conclude that the intergovernmental human rights bodies, in particular the Human Rights Council, will continue to require the input of a body of qualified independent human rights experts such as the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.