A/71/301 Access to goods and services 43. National specialized bodies can play an important role in preventing discrimination in the provision of goods and services, not only in the public sector, but also by private providers. Among the issues and complaints reported, the denial of access to restaurants, clubs and hotels emerges most frequently. 21 In order to prevent discrimination regarding access to goods and services, the Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales, Australia, together with tourism associations, published anti-discrimination guidelines for the hotel and accommodation industry in April 2013, which inform hoteliers an d restaurant and bar owners and their employees of their legal duties and responsibilities. 25 D. Challenges to the work of national specialized bodies 44. The Special Rapporteur has found that the impact of the work of national specialized bodies can remain limited, since there are challenges either to the mandate of these bodies or to their operations. The Special Rapporteur hopes that by addressing these challenges, the work undertaken by national specialized bodies can have a more significant impact. 1. Underreporting 45. Underreporting has been identified, including by many of the national specialized bodies themselves, as a key barrier to their work. The Special Rapporteur notes that the numbers of complaints received and inquiries conducted by national specialized bodies on the grounds of racial and ethnic discrimination, which are often combined with those received and conducted on the grounds of other prohibited forms of discrimination, are low. The Special Rapporteur notes that the issue of underreporting is also manifest with regard to racist crimes and incidents owing to a perceived lack of trust in law enforcement agencies by victims and a sense of impunity. He has consistently called upon States to ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into such crimes and has called for those responsible to be adequately sanctioned and for victims to be given full access to effective legal remedies (see A/HRC/26/50, A/HRC/29/47 and A/HRC/32/49 and Corr.1). 46. The Special Rapporteur firmly believes that the issue of underreporting needs to be acknowledged as an element limiting the important contribution t hat national specialized bodies can make to the fight against discrimination. He notes that better cooperation and development of links with civil society organizations, in particular, organizations representing minority ethnic groups and religious communi ties, have been identified as particularly important. In Europe, members of the European Network of Equality Bodies have been engaging with civil society organizations by organizing capacity-building events and training; targeting Bar associations and organizations working with disadvantaged groups; and creating platforms for dialogue. Civil society organizations can also offer a valuable channel of communication to minority ethnic groups and religious communities and can be a source of information for national specialized bodies, as was highlighted during the __________________ 25 12/21 Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales, Australian Hotels Association (New South Wales) and Tourism Accommodation Australia, Anti-Discrimination Guidelines for the Hotel and Accommodation Industry (Sydney, 2013). Available from www.antidiscrimination.justice.nsw.gov.au/. 16-13565

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