A/72/365 discrimination on grounds of race, sex, language or religion and to protect minorities. Thirty-five years later, the General Assembly, in its resolution 35/55, adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (1981 Declaration) and established a corresponding special procedure to monitor and report on its implementation. 7. The concept of intolerance against persons based on their religion or belief has not been specifically defined in international human rights law, but it has been repeatedly identified as a causal or correlative factor constituting a n obstacle to the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief. Article 2 (2) of the 1981 Declaration, for example, seems to conflate the concept of intolerance with discrimination, stating that “intolerance and discrimination based on reli gion or belief’ means any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on religion or belief and having as its purpose or as its effect nullification or impairment of the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedom s on an equal basis”. However, elsewhere in the 1981 Declaration, the General Assembly clearly distinguishes between “intolerance” and ”discrimination”, for example by expressing concern at manifestations of intolerance and at the existence of discrimination in matters of religion or belief. 2 In this way, the 1981 Declaration establishes a critical link between various manifestations of religious intolerance and their negative impact on respect for the right to freedom of religion or belief, which is contingent on respect for the principles of equality and non-discrimination to allow for the full enjoyment of this and other fundamental rights and freedoms. 8. It has since been further articulated that “intolerance based on religion or belief has two separate aspects: first, an unfavourable attitude of mind towards persons or groups of a different religion or belief, and secondly, manifestations of such an attitude in practice”. These manifestations often take the form of discrimination. In other cases, they can involve the stirring up of hatred against, or even the persecution of, individuals or groups of a different religion or belief (see E/CN.4/Sub.2/1987/26, para. 15). 9. In recent years, the international community has increasingly focused on manifestations of intolerance involving religion or belief, including discrimination, hostility or violence, resulting in a number of key developments. This includes the adoption by the Human Rights Council in 2011 of resolution 16/18 on combating intolerance, negative stereotyping, stigmatization, discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons based on religion or belief and the formulation in 2012 of the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence (see A/HRC/22/17/Add.4, appendix). Yet despite these and other United Nations efforts to strengthen international protection for freedom of religion or belief, acts of intolerance have been on the rise in many parts of the world, revealing an alarming gap between international norms and domestic practice. 10. Available data suggest that the median level of government restrictions on religion or belief increased from 2014 to 2015 in four of the five United Nations regional groups (the African, Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, and Western European and others groups). 3 Countries in the Middle East and North Africa reportedly __________________ 2 3 17-14822 See resolution 36/55, eighth preambular paragraph, and Heiner Bielefeldt, Nazila Ghanea and Michael Wiener, Freedom of Religion or Belief: An International Law Commentary (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2016), p. 330. Pew Research Center, “Global restrictions on religion rise modestly i n 2015, reversing downward trend” (Washington, D.C., 11 April 2017). The Special Rapporteur relies on Pew data only insofar as it provides useful and relevant information on issues related to religious intolerance worldwide. These references are not, in an y way, a reflection of his endorsement of the methodology used by Pew to identify national or territorial boundaries, or his position on what the international political status of those entities should be. 5/24