A/RES/55/84 5. Requests the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to make every effort to ensure the mobilization of resources for the voluntary fund for the World Conference to cover the participation of the least developed countries in the preparatory process and in the Conference itself, and requests all Governments, international and nongovernmental organizations and private individuals to contribute to the fund; 6. Calls upon the High Commissioner to help States and regional organizations, upon request, to convene and finalize inclusive national and regional meetings, in close consultation with the regional groups concerned, or to take other initiatives, including activities at the expert level, to prepare for the World Conference, and urges the specialized agencies and the regional commissions, in coordination with the High Commissioner, to contribute to the convening of regional preparatory meetings; 7. Requests the Secretary-General, the specialized agencies and the regional commissions to provide financial and technical assistance for the organization of the regional preparatory meetings planned in the context of the World Conference, and stresses that such assistance should be supplemented by voluntary contributions; 8. Stresses the importance of the widest possible participation of nongovernmental organizations in the World Conference and the sessions of the Preparatory Committee, as well as in the regional meetings, regional expert seminars and other initiatives, including activities at the expert level, held in preparation for the World Conference; 9. Decides to convene the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance at Durban, South Africa, from 31 August to 7 September 2001; 10. Welcomes the holding by the Council of Europe of the regional preparatory meeting at Strasbourg, France, from 11 to 13 October 2000, and the offers made by the Governments of Chile, Senegal and the Islamic Republic of Iran to convene regional preparatory meetings, within the framework of the World Conference, at, respectively, Santiago, from 4 to 7 December 2000, Dakar, from 22 to 24 January 2001, and Tehran, from 19 to 21 February 2001; 11. Requests the High Commissioner: (a) To help States, upon request, and regional organizations to convene national and regional meetings or to take other initiatives, including activities at the expert level, to prepare for the World Conference; (b) To undertake appropriate consultations with non-governmental organizations on the possibility that they might hold a forum before and partly during the World Conference and, as far as possible, to provide them with technical assistance for that purpose; (c) To continue fund-raising activities in order to increase the resources of the voluntary fund established specifically to cover all aspects of the preparatory process for the World Conference and the participation of non-governmental organizations, in particular those from developing countries, with special emphasis on those from least developed countries; 12. Also requests the High Commissioner, in her capacity as SecretaryGeneral of the World Conference, to continue and intensify the activities already 7