A/61/335 growing acceptance of racism and xenophobia through the impact of racist and xenophobic platforms in the political programmes of democratic parties and the rise in racist political violence. 62. The General Assembly is also invited to remind Member States of the central importance of political will in efforts to combat racism and xenophobia. 63. The General Assembly is also invited to promote the link between the struggle against racism and xenophobia and the recognition and promotion of multiculturalism. 64. The General Assembly is invited to draw the attention of Member States to the serious nature of the defamation of religions, anti-Semitism and Christianophobia, and more particularly, Islamophobia, and to promote the struggle against them by strengthening the role of the United Nations in interreligious and intercultural dialogue and by the active and joint participation of the representatives of religions and spiritual traditions in programmes and activities for peace, development and human rights. 65. The General Assembly is invited to encourage international sporting bodies, in particular FIFA, to implement and expand their programmes to combat racism in sports and to encourage Governments to actively support those programmes. 66. The General Assembly is invited to underline the compatibility and complementarity of freedom of expression and freedom of religion in the struggle against all forms of racism and discrimination, in the spirit of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to invite all relevant Convention bodies and international mechanisms to consider the additional provisions needed to strengthen this complementarity. 06-51904 21

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