A/HRC/11/36 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The present report, prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 7/34, is the first report to be submitted to the Council by the current mandate holder, whose appointment commenced on 1 August 2008. Prepared after the conclusion of the Durban Review Conference, it examines in detail its outcome document, and the Special Rapporteur’s reflections on the Durban Review process (part I). The Special Rapporteur also addresses the issue of poverty and racism, which he considers a fundamental challenge in the fight against racism (part II). II. DURBAN REVIEW CONFERENCE A. Renewing the international engagement against racism 2. The holding of the Durban Review Conference in April 2009 marked the renewal of international engagement against racism. During the preparatory process leading up to the Conference, the Special Rapporteur requested Member States to approach the Review Conference constructively and in a cooperative spirit, arguing that the problems related to racism were too important for the Conference to be allowed to fail. In particular, in a press release issued on 21 March 2009, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Special Rapporteur called upon States and civil society organizations alike to participate in the negotiations leading to the Review Conference. The Special Rapporteur stressed that the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action remained the most comprehensive international framework to fight racism. 3. The Special Rapporteur would like to recall his statement made at the plenary session under item 9 of the Durban Review Conference, when he stated that, by showing their commitment to the international anti-racism movement, Member States were also sending an important signal to their relevant domestic constituencies: that racism was unacceptable and would be vigorously combated by the different institutions of the State within all possible parameters of the law. He added that engaging in the Durban Review process also meant leaving political agendas outside; ideological divides only made people lose sight of the real and concrete problem of racism and those who suffer from it. A renewed international engagement against racism was as urgent as it had ever been. For that reason, he once again called upon all members of the international community, in particular those who had chosen not to participate in the Durban Review Conference, to re-engage internationally on the common cause of eradicating racism. He particularly called on the United States and President Obama to provide leadership in this process, building on its historical experience of combating racism. 4. Despite the absence of some Member States, the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference was adopted consensually by all Member States attending the Conference. This is a remarkable achievement, particularly in the highly tense political atmosphere surrounding the Review Conference. The Special Rapporteur therefore regrets that 10 Member States decided not to participate in the Conference. The Special Rapporteur is convinced that the outcome document reflects the able manner in which the preparatory process was managed, in particular by the Chairperson of the intersessional working group, as well as the important but difficult concessions that were made by many parties. The Special Rapporteur underlines that this is the way the United Nations has been designed to work, focusing on common ground rather than division.