A/66/313 organizations to promote equality, freedom of expression and diversity. 14 They acknowledged that self-regulation for mass media was the best system, albeit imperfect, yet they also emphasized that self-regulation should not lead to detrimental self-censorship or a conspiracy of silence. They also stressed the importance of skills training, including with respect to investigative reporting. 60. On 10 January 2011, the Special Rapporteur contributed to the session on the theme “ECRI [European Commission against Racism and Intolerance] and its international partners: cooperation and synergies”, held in the framework of the seminar organized by the Council of Europe on “The fight against discrimination based on racial, ethnic, religious or other bias” in Ankara. While recalling the Durban documents’ provisions on the role of regional bodies, the Special Rapporteur underlined the considerable contribution of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in the fight against racism at the European level. In order to strengthen cooperation, the Special Rapporteur emphasized that adopting a comprehensive legal framework addressing all forms of racism and discrimination, as it existed at the United Nations and at European levels, was the correct strategy. In addition, best practices should be shared with other countries and regions on a regular basis, including on complementary measures such as education and awareness-raising initiatives aiming at promoting understanding within society. The Special Rapporteur took the view that a more regular exchange of experiences could certainly provide a framework for the development of useful tools to fight discrimination and racism, making use of the lessons learned. He encouraged further joint action of national, regional and international mechanisms fighting discrimination, and welcomed more interaction with European mechanisms, including with respect to the preparation of country visits in Europe, data, studies, case law, and legal and policy measures. A common approach on some issues would also be worthwhile. IV. Conclusions and recommendations 61. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the valuable efforts made by States to address the challenges related to the thematic issues raised in the present report, and commends Governments for having developed a number of good practices both at national and regional levels. However, the Special Rapporteur would like to emphasize that much remains to be done to effectively counter the racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance faced in practice by many women, men and children worldwide. 62. Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance unfortunately continue to have a negative impact on the full enjoyment of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. This is particularly blatant for __________________ 14 11-45818 See, for example, Al Jazeera’s Code of Ethics (http://english.aljazeera.net/aboutus/2006/11/ 2008525185733692771.html); the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Editorial Guidelines (www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines); Camden Principles on Freedom of Expression and Equality, prepared by Article 19 (www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/1214/CamdenPrinciples-ENGLISH-web.pdf); and the International Federation of Journalists, The Ethical Journalism Initiative (http://ethicaljournalisminitiative.org). 17