CRC/C/15/Add.222 page 16 Children belonging to minority groups 70. The Committee welcomes the ratification by the State party of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. However, while the Committee is cognizant of the ethnic and religious diversity and tolerance in Georgia, it remains concerned at the increasing instances of direct or indirect discrimination and intolerance and the lack of an adequate response, as noted by the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). 71. The Committee encourages the State party to take measures to combat racism, xenophobia, discrimination and intolerance by, inter alia, ensuring follow-up to the recommendations of the United Nations treaty bodies and ECRI, in particular as they relate to children. The Committee recognizes the important role of education in this respect and encourages the State party to continue to support education in languages of the minorities as well as education in their mother tongue for the ethnic Georgian population not having access to it. 8. Optional Protocols 72. The Committee encourages the State party to ratify the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in armed conflict. 9. Dissemination of the report, written answers and concluding observations 73. In light of article 44, paragraph 6, of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the second periodic report and written replies submitted by the State party be made widely available to the public at large and that the publication of the report be considered, along with the relevant summary records and concluding observations adopted thereon by the Committee. Such a document should be widely distributed in order to generate debate and awareness of the Convention and its implementation and monitoring at all levels of administration of the State party and among the general public, including concerned NGOs. 10. Next report 74. The Committee underlines the importance of a reporting practice that is in full compliance with the provisions of article 44 of the Convention. An important aspect of States parties’ responsibilities to children under the Convention includes ensuring that the Committee on the Rights of the Child has regular opportunities to examine the progress made in the implementation of the Convention. In this regard, regular and timely reporting by States parties is crucial. The Committee invites the States party to submit its third periodic report by 1 July 2006. The report should not exceed 120 pages (see CRC/C/118). -----