A/57/274 Final Document without qualifying statement or reservation. during the seventy-fourth session of the Human Rights Committee. 72. In his report to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-eighth session, the Special Rapporteur reported on the preparations for and the proceedings and outcome of the Conference and asked for the views and comments of the Commission on appropriate steps and actions to further, through education, the prevention of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. 76. At the ninth meeting of special rapporteurs, which was held in Geneva from 24 to 28 June 2002, the Special Rapporteur raised the question of the follow-up to the Madrid Conference with the special rapporteurs concerned more particularly with the prevention of intolerance and discrimination, including the Special Rapporteurs on the sale of children, racism, violence against women and the right to education. During his discussion with the persons chairing the human rights treaty bodies, the Special Rapporteur further stressed the need for those bodies to take into account the prevention aspect, both in questions addressed to States and in drafting final comments. 73. By resolution 2002/40, the Commission on Human Rights noted with appreciation the Conference and underlined the importance of education in the promotion of tolerance and the elimination of discrimination based on religion or belief. The Commission also invited Governments to give consideration to the Final Document of the Conference, and urged States to promote and encourage, through education and other means, understanding, tolerance and respect in all matters relating to freedom of religion or belief and to make all appropriate efforts to encourage those engaged in teaching to cultivate respect for all religions or beliefs, thereby promoting mutual understanding and tolerance. 74. As part of the follow-up to the Madrid Conference, the Special Rapporteur forwarded the Final Document to all States in December 2001, including the 80 States that had been represented in Madrid, and invited them to apply it appropriately. At the same time, the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the human rights institutes, non-governmental organizations and religious communities which had participated in the Madrid Conference with a view to obtaining their suggestions as to follow-up activities that could be developed. Pursuant to the wish expressed by the Special Rapporteur, many participants helped in the dissemination of the Final Document of the Conference, either through their web site or by publishing it. 75. The human rights treaty bodies were also closely associated in the follow-up phase. In January 2002, the Special Rapporteur met with the members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva and spoke with the secretariat of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. A discussion on the follow-up to the Madrid Conference and its challenges took place in March 2002 in New York 77. The Special Rapporteur participated in a meeting devoted exclusively to the follow-up to the Madrid Conference held on 10 April 2002 at the initiative of the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief. At the Fifth World Congress of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), which was held in Manila from 10 to 13 June 2002, the Special Rapporteur also dealt at length with the question of the prevention of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. The Congress devoted a special meeting to the question of education for tolerance and the follow-up to the Madrid Conference. 78. As regards future meetings, the Special Rapporteur will participate in the 31st Congress of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) in Budapest from 28 July to 2 August 2002, which will also have to consider the question of follow-up to the Madrid Conference. 79. The Special Rapporteur has also been invited to participate in a Strategy Development Seminar which will be held in Oslo from 8 to 10 December 2002. This Seminar is organized by the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, which gathers experts and representatives from various religious or belief communities, academia, non-governmental organizations, international organizations and civil society. This organization was created in 1998 in order to monitor and promote freedom of religion or belief and to strengthen the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. The Seminar is part of the preparation of the international and interdisciplinary conference of experts to be held 13