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intolerance to advance their re-engagement in wider society positively through
coexistence, harmony and respect for the rule of law, and to pursue peaceful
social change.
78. The Special Rapporteur, therefore, encourages all stakeholders, including
States, faith leaders and civil society, to fully utilize the recommendations
outlined in resolution 16/18, the Rabat Plan of Action, the Fez Plan of Action
and the Beirut Declaration. Religious literacy and interfaith dialogue can play
a vital role in identifying the common good and promoting respect for
pluralism. As stressed in the Beirut Declaration, all believers — whether
theistic, non-theistic, atheistic or other — should join hands and hearts in
articulating ways in which “faith” can stand up for “rights” more effectively, so
that each enhances the other. Rejecting expressions of hatred within one’s own
community and extending solidarity and support across faith or belief
boundaries are honourable and meaningful actions.
79. Many Member States and other stakeholders agree that United Nations
tools developed for combating manifestations of intolerance based on religion
or belief have not been used to their fullest potential and that further steps to
strengthen international processes for implementation are necessary. In this
regard, the Special Rapporteur encourages Member States to improve the
capacity of the Istanbul Process to fully function as a mechanism for
implementation. To date, the Process has received varied levels of consideration
from Member States, depending on evaluations by foreign ministries in
national capitals. Deeper and broader commitment could add value.
80. As such, diplomatic officials should work to orient its national experts
across a range of ministries and policy fields, such as those in justice, interior,
education and social affairs departments, to better operationalize this national
engagement with Human Rights Council resolution 16/18. Relatively few States
provide detailed information on national steps taken to implement the resolution,
and little to no analysis of the impact that national measures and strategies may
have had on furthering the goals of resolution 16/18 have been offered in reports
to date. The Special Rapporteur recommends that steps be taken to streamline
State engagement with the reporting mechanism to improve the consistency an d
quality of reporting and facilitate impact analysis. It is also strongly
recommended that civil society organizations, national human rights institutions
and international organizations be allowed to share their experiences, views and
best practices in this process (see A/HRC/34/35, para. 117).
81. As a mechanism for implementation, the Istanbul Process should seek to
regularize introspective intergovernmental exchanges of experiences, best
practices and lessons learned. Meetings should also be held regularly to assess
the impact of specific measures and explore the effectiveness of the myriad
strategies advanced by States for implementing resolution 16/18. Agendas for a
calendar of future meetings should include periodic engagement with the
resolution. Meetings should be apolitical and geared towards facilitating peerto-peer exchanges among an inclusive pool of experts and practitioners —
particularly those on the front lines of promoting and protecting right s —
including educators, faith leaders, social workers, legal and human rights
experts, rights advocates, experts in law enforcement and the media. Moreover,
efforts to supplement those discussions with data-driven analysis and
qualitative information should be undertaken.
82. As such, the collection of reliable data on hate crimes and statistics, which
may speak to the effectiveness of measures taken to combat manifestations of
intolerance based on religion or belief, is also crucial. However, the issue of data
collection (or the lack thereof) should not be instrumentalized as a political tool
and must, instead, represent a commitment by all States to monitor and report
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