A/HRC/9/8 page 4 9. To this end, OHCHR organized in 2007 several meetings of the Inter-Agency Working Group on Minorities, comprising OHCHR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNDP, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the World Health Organization, bodies interested in strengthening cooperation on minority issues. In 2007, the Group agreed that improved protection for minorities was timely and that existing human rights mechanisms provided protection but needed to be used more effectively, noting the importance of integrating minority issues into common country strategies and processes aimed at realizing the Millennium Development Goals. In addition, the Group held a meeting with seven relevant special procedures mandate-holders and discussed key challenges for the protection and promotion of the rights of minorities in their respective areas of expertise. OHCHR will strengthen further the work of the Group through closer partnerships and cooperation with United Nations agencies and programmes as part of its strategy to mainstream minority rights throughout the United Nations system and promote awareness about the Declaration on the Rights of Minorities. OHCHR is also engaged in bilateral inter-agency cooperation, for example, in the preparation of the UNDP resource guide on minorities. C. Building thematic expertise 10. With a view to offering guidance for technical assistance, and pursuant to paragraph 74 (a) of the Durban Programme of Action, which urged States and invited non-governmental organizations and the private sector to create and implement policies that promote a high-quality and diverse police force free from racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and recruit actively all groups, including minorities, into public employment, including the police force and other agencies within the criminal justice system, such as prosecutors, OHCHR, in cooperation with ILO, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the independent expert on minority issues, held an expert meeting on integration with diversity in policing in Vienna on 15 and 16 January 2008, hosted by the Government of Austria. 11. OHCHR invited 10 senior professionals from the police services from different regions and countries (Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Hungary, India, Ireland, Nigeria, Pakistan, Samoa and South Africa) to participate in the meeting as experts and deliver presentations focused on sharing good experiences and lessons learned in relation to inclusion with diversity in policing. An additional 16 participants represented other United Nations bodies, regional intergovernmental organizations and civil society. Besides the sharing of experiences and lessons learned, the main objective of the meeting was to determine whether it would be useful to develop an OHCHR guidance note on the practical application of human rights principles and provisions related to integration with diversity. A draft of the guidance note was reviewed and discussed during the meeting. The meeting participants agreed that it would be useful to produce guidelines on integration with diversity in policing, based on the current draft. OHCHR subsequently commissioned the preparation of guidelines and good practice for policing with diversity, which will be available in the near future and provide practical guidance and examples