A/HRC/3/7 page 6 Underlining that 2006 marks 60 years of the United Nations action against racism, including three United Nations decades against racism whose programmes of action have largely not been achieved, as well as five years since the Durban Conference of 2001, Saluting the laudable efforts of the Caribbean Community to keep the Durban spirit alive and foremost in the conscience of the international community and, in this regard, welcoming the historic resolution 61/19 of the General Assembly, adopted unanimously on 28 November 2006, in which the Assembly decided to designate 25 March 2007 as the International Day for the Commemoration of the Two-hundredth Anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Taking note of the resolution proposed by the Third Committee to the General Assembly (A/C.3/61/L.53/Rev.1), adopted as orally amended on 22 November 2006 in which the Third Committee recommended that the Assembly convene the Durban Review Conference in 2009, Recalling also that in the same resolution the Human Rights Council is requested to undertake preparations for this event and to formulate by 2007 a concrete plan for the 2009 Durban Review Conference, Recalling further that in the same resolution the Council is requested to regularly provide the General Assembly with updates and progress reports towards this event starting in 2007, 1. Decides that the Human Rights Council will act as the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference which shall be open to the participation of all Member States of the United Nations and members of the specialized agencies and also to the participation of observers in accordance with the established practice of the General Assembly; 2. Decides also that the Preparatory Committee shall hold an organizational session of one week in May 2007, at the level of personal representatives of the Heads of State or Government or other appropriate high-level representatives designated for this purpose by Governments and two substantive sessions of 10 working days each during 2007 and 2008 in Geneva; 3. Decides further that the Preparatory Committee, at its organizational sessions, shall elect, on the basis of equitable geographical representation, a bureau for the Preparatory Committee and that, at the same session, the Preparatory Committee shall decide on all the relevant modalities for the Conference in accordance with established practice of the General Assembly, including deciding on the objectives of the Review Conference, the level at which the Review Conference shall be convened, regional preparatory initiatives, date and venue; 4. Requests Governments, the specialized agencies of the United Nations system and relevant United Nations bodies, regional organizations, governmental and non-governmental organizations, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Five Independent