A/62/306 minorities and recognition and promotion of a democratic, egalitarian and interactive multiculturalism within societies, he highlighted the importance of a system-wide multidisciplinary approach to issues relating to the rights of minorities. 2. Resurgence of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia 34. The resurgence of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia and an analysis of their deep historical and cultural roots were the subject of many of the Special Rapporteur’s statements. The main ones are summarized below. 35. On 27 and 28 November 2006, the Special Rapporteur participated in the Race Convention 2006 in London to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Commission for Racial Equality. His statement was on the added challenges of globalization to combating racism. While commending the Commission’s outstanding contribution to the campaign against racism in the United Kingdom, he expressed the hope that its new successor institution, the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, would accord high priority to combating racism while promoting a holistic approach to combating all forms of discrimination. 36. At the invitation of the Mayor of London, the Special Rapporteur took part in the seminar entitled “A World Civilisation or a Clash of Civilisations”, held on 20 January 2007. The goal of this initiative was to consider the impact of globalization and of terrorism on the social cohesion of London. In a round table with journalists and intellectuals, he focused on intellectual and political resistance to multiculturalism, one of the underlying causes of the resurgence of racism and xenophobia. 37. From 10 to 12 May 2007 in Nuremberg, the Special Rapporteur participated in the first General Conference of the European Coalition of Cities against Racism entitled “Sharing Competence and Empowering Communities: The Role of Cities in Challenging Racism and Discrimination”. Expressing particular concern over the rise in racism in the world, the Special Rapporteur noted the broad scope of the Coalition’s initiative, under the aegis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to promote the campaign against racism in urban areas, the central framework for the process of ethnic, cultural and religious multiculturalism. He added that the concept of a coalition to promote dialogue among cultures and religions — the only sustainable response to racial, ethnic and religious antagonism — would prove fruitful. 38. The Special Rapporteur also participated in the fourth International Human Rights Forum on the theme “Human Rights and Children”, held in Lucerne on 24 and 25 May 2007. He participated, in particular, in the work of an expert panel entitled “Children and Racism: What Can We Do?”, on which he stressed two ideas that are fundamental to combating racism: the need to highlight the cultural and historical processes by which all forms of racism develop and the importance of education to multiculturalism — in school, in the media and, above all, in the family. This forum, an outstanding initiative by the Kirchschläger brothers with the active participation of such eminent personalities as Ms. Cherie Blair and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Human Rights Watch, attests to the commitment of Swiss civil society to combating racism and promoting human rights and to the quality of its work. In this connection, the Special Rapporteur regretted that a representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights could not be present, as announced in the programme. 12 07-49048