A/HRC/29/47 welcomes the measures taken by a national commission on human rights in a Southern European country to combat racism in sports, including the appointment of a special prosecutor for crimes of racist violence. He also notes the creation in a Latin-American country of a monitoring mechanism for hate speech on the Internet, which aims to identify early racist crimes online and the eradication of any form of discrimination online, including the removal of discriminatory material from public web pages. 38. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the above-mentioned developments and recommends that such specialized institutions, in addition to monitoring and raising awareness about the challenges posed by extremist political parties, provide advice on measures to address them. States should ensure that such institutions have a strong mandate, independence and sufficient resources to execute their programmes. 39. In addition, the Special Rapporteur has received information regarding measures taken by some States regarding the training of their officials, in particular, law enforcement agents. In one Middle Eastern country, the Human Rights Commission organized workshops to raise human rights awareness among police officers, the judiciary and State officials. Legislation relating to the dissemination of a human rights culture in that same country was also adopted, which included the development of a national action plan. The Special Rapporteur notes with satisfaction that human rights education is of particular importance for a number of States and that specific units dealing with hate crimes and racism have been established, including within the Office of the Public Prosecutor. 40. The Special Rapporteur continues to appreciate the many examples of awarenessraising activities that have been conducted by States to foster tolerance and respect for cultural diversity, to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and to strengthen intercultural dialogue. Those activities include the organization of cultural events, art festivals of national minorities, exhibitions, concerts, seminars and forums in addition to the publication of books and brochures promoting cultural diversity. He encourages such initiatives, which offer space for further intercultural dialogue and interaction. Other measures are also welcomed, such as information broadcasts on television and the Internet aimed at promoting acceptance and tolerance among different ethnic groups. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the fact that, in some countries, the mainstream media have started to recognize the cultural value of diversity and to promote the idea of improving the living and working conditions of minority groups. 41. Finally, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that continued cooperation with relevant international and regional human rights mechanisms and civil society organizations is important in countering extremist political parties, movements and groups, and he notes with appreciation the engagement of States with regional and international human rights mechanisms, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 42. The recommendations the Special Rapporteur had made in his previous reports to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/23/24 and A/HRC/26/50) and the General Assembly (A/69/334) remain valid and current. They are presented again below, clustered by thematic area for easy reference. Political measures 43. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the efforts made by States to counter extremist political parties, movements and groups, including neo-Nazis, skinhead 11