A/53/279 15. Finally, the Special Rapporteur hopes to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, whose mandate has just been established by the Commission in resolution 1998/33. The Special Rapporteur notes with interest this new mandate, which covers, in particular, gender considerations, in particular the situation and needs of the girl child, and promotion of the elimination of all forms of discrimination in education. III. In situ visits and follow-up procedure 16. Within the context of resolution 1998/18 of the Commission on Human Rights which calls upon all Governments to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance and to give serious consideration to inviting the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries so as to enable him to fulfil his mandate more effectively, and in accordance with similar provisions of the previous resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights and of the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur focused his efforts particularly on in situ visits and follow-up. 17. The Special Rapporteur wishes to recall that in situ visits and follow-up constitute an instrument for dialogue and understanding. They allow for on-the-spot examination not only of incidents and governmental actions which are inconsistent with the provisions of the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief and formulation of recommendations for remedial measures, but also of State contributions to the promotion, protection and development of freedom of religion and belief. 18. These in situ visits are addressed not only to Government officials but also to the various actors in society (non-governmental organizations, religious groups and so forth), for, as is correctly pointed out in resolution 1998/18 of the Commission, “the exercise of tolerance and nondiscrimination by all actors in society is necessary for the full realization of the aims of the Declaration”. initiatives with regard to tolerance and non-discrimination on grounds of religion or belief. 20. Moreover, these visits are necessary for enabling the Special Rapporteur to carry out his mandate effectively, insofar as they ensure the balance that is essential to any examination of situations and cases. While communications, which are a basic tool for carrying out the mandate, focus on cases or situations of intolerance and discrimination, visits enable the Special Rapporteur: (a) To understand their general context (namely, their economic, social, cultural, civil and political environment) and, accordingly, their degree of severity and the factors explaining them; (b) To conduct an in-depth analysis of the facts that avoids oversimplification and seeks instead a complexity that associates both the positive and the negative at various levels and according to highly diversified temporal and spatial developments. 21. These visits and the recommendations formulated by the Special Rapporteur, as well as their follow-up, also enable the Special Rapporteur to move beyond a “managerial” role in relation to cases and situations of intolerance and discrimination, in the context of which the communications sent usually represent interventions a posteriori (with the exception of urgent appeals, which sometimes result in preventive action, though only in a very limited number of cases each year, for specific cases rather than situations, and on an emergency rather than long-term basis). Visits enable the Special Rapporteur to play a preventive and participatory role in the medium and long term, in the process of following up the action envisaged or taken by Governments to implement the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations. 22. Since taking up his duties, the Special Rapporteur has made in situ visits to the following countries: 19. In situ visits also represent an opportunity for reciprocal enrichment. On the one hand, the Special Rapporteur helps Governments to understand more fully their obligations with respect to the implementation of the 1981 Declaration and of article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. On the other, he gains a better grasp of complex situations in the area of religion and belief and/or related areas, as well as information on experiences and positive 5