E/CN.4/2003/66 page 20 education in relation to freedom of religion or belief. Such a conference took place in Madrid from 23 to 25 November 2001, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The records of the Conference were published by the Spanish Government in a volume entitled “La libertad religiosa y la educación escolar”, which is an extremely useful tool and research aid. It includes, among other things, the conference documents and the statements made by States and by the representatives of United Nations human rights mechanisms, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, communities of religion or belief, national commissions for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), human rights institutes and experts. It also describes the development of the various drafts leading up to the adoption of the final document of the Madrid Conference and discusses the relevant texts on education for tolerance and non-discrimination in the area of religion or belief. By making this book available to all, in particular States, NGOs and researchers, the Spanish Government has made an important contribution to efforts to eliminate all forms of intolerance and discrimination on the basis of religion or belief. 108. In his report to the Commission at its fifty-eighth session, the Special Rapporteur gave an account of the preparations for, the holding of and the outcome of the Madrid Conference, at the end of which a final document was adopted by consensus. This document, which recommends both general and more targeted measures and calls for contributions from States and all social actors, should provide a framework for actions aimed at making schools places for learning peace, understanding and tolerance among individuals, groups and nations, as a means of developing respect for diversity. 109. In the current context, where groups tend to be on the defensive, eager to proclaim their identity, to chase out the intruder and to exclude the outsider, the cause of dissension, there is an increasingly urgent need to educate responsible citizens - that is to say, discerning citizens capable of making balanced judgements - if the cracks appearing between civilizations today are not to become the trenches of war tomorrow. 110. The Special Rapporteur has taken various other initiatives in follow-up to the Madrid Conference, involving States, human rights institutes, NGOs and communities of religion, as well as United Nations treaty monitoring bodies and special rapporteurs with a particular interest in the prevention of intolerance and discrimination, with whom he has explored ways of paying greater attention to the prevention aspect. In this connection, he believes there should be close links between, inter alia, his own mandate and that of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 111. Various meetings organized by NGOs have also enabled debate to take place on ways of ensuring the dissemination of the Madrid Conference final document and the implementation of its recommendations. The Special Rapporteur dealt at some length with the issue of the prevention of all forms of discrimination and intolerance on the basis 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 and which devoted a special meeting to the question of education for tolerance and the follow-up to the Madrid Conference; and at the thirty-first Congress of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), which was held in Budapest from 28 July to 2 August 2002.