A/71/301 countries have recently announced that they now take this issue into account in their censuses, especially with regard to the situation of persons of African descent. 30 4. Lack of visibility 51. The Special Rapporteur notes that national specialized bodies generally suffer from a lack of visibility among the general public, which greatly limits their work. Constraints on increasing the visibility of these bodies most often relate to the fact that they are located in the capital city only and hence are not accessible to those living in rural and remote areas. This means that the bodies are not available to all groups of the population, as well as having limited opening hours. There is also a lack of information, awareness and knowledge on the part of the rights -holders concerned. 52. The Special Rapporteur wishes to make reference to a survey conducted in Europe in 2010 by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights regarding awareness among the public of public organizations providing support to victims of racism and discrimination. It was found that 80 per cent of respondents to the survey could not think of a single organization that could offer support to victims of discrimination — be it Government-based, an independent institution or authority, such as a national specialized body, or a non-governmental organization (NGO). Similarly, in the same survey, when given the name of a national specialized body (or an equivalent organization) in their country, 60 per cent of respondents indicated that they had never heard of it. 31 53. Some national specialized bodies have taken steps towards increasing accessibility for the population. In Belgium, for example, the two linguistic communities agreed to unify their local anti-discrimination bodies and form a federal centre present in all regions of the country under an easily identifiable name, Unia. 32 5. Inherent limitations of mandates 54. The Special Rapporteur notes that limitations may be inhere nt in the structures and mandated tasks of national specialized bodies. For instance, a tribunal -type body may not always deal with cases of multiple discrimination, but will rather focus on the most salient ground for discrimination in order to maximize t he chances of reaching a concluding decision on the merits of the case, or because the body may not be mandated to cover all forms of alleged discrimination. 55. When these types of bodies reach a decision on the merits of a case, not all have the power to make their decisions binding on the parties involved, as some may only make recommendations. Furthermore, other national specialized bodies are competent to address public authorities on grounds of discrimination, but are not competent to address private stakeholders. Lastly, national specialized bodies in __________________ 30 31 32 14/21 See, for example, the website of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Ar gentina (www.indec.gov.ar/sen.asp). European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey, Data in Focus Report 3: Rights Awareness and Equality Bodies: strengthening the fundamental rights architecture in the EU (Vienna, 2010), p. 13. Available from http://fra.europa.eu/eu-midis. See http://unia.be/en/about-unia. 16-13565