A/62/306 Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Summary In this report, the Special Rapporteur describes the activities in which he participated as part of the follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in the period since the sixtyfirst session of the General Assembly. The activities reported upon are categorized as follows: reports submitted at the fourth and fifth sessions of the Human Rights Council, activities relating to coordination with other human rights mechanisms, participation in various meetings and conferences on themes within the Special Rapporteur’s mandate, and field missions. This last section describes the Special Rapporteur’s missions to Switzerland, the Russian Federation and Italy. In all these activities, the Special Rapporteur has focused on the following principal areas: close monitoring and analysis of old and new manifestations of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia; promotion of a dual strategy — political and legal — to combat the political, legal, economic, social, cultural and ethnic manifestations of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in order to eradicate the deep roots of racist culture; and promotion of the link between efforts to combat racism and xenophobia and the construction over the long term of an egalitarian, democratic and interactive multiculturalism, based on respect for the cultural diversity of national communities and the promotion of social unity. 2 07-49048