A/62/306 2009 to consider the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. In accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 3/2, he stands ready to share with the Preparatory Committee his observations and analyses, particularly those based on his visits and reports, concerning significant trends and contemporary forms of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance. C. 1. Participation in various meetings and conferences Annual meeting of special procedures 29. The Special Rapporteur participated in the fourteenth annual meeting of special procedures mandate-holders, held in Geneva from 18 to 22 June 2007 to coincide with the fifth session of the Human Rights Council. 30. The Special Rapporteur endorsed the decision of the special procedures mandate-holders authorizing the Coordination Committee to draft and present to the fifteenth meeting an appropriate procedure by which the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council, adopted by the Council at its fifth session (A/HRC/5/L.3/Rev.1, annex), and other relevant documents, including the Manual of the United Nations Human Rights Special Procedures, may best be implemented to enhance the effectiveness and independence both of the special procedures system as a whole and also of individual mandate-holders. 31. In the statements he delivered, the Special Rapporteur stressed, inter alia, the following points: the profound significance of the institutional reforms introduced by the Council in the work of the special procedures for strengthening human rights; the importance, in this context, of participation by the special procedures in a process of exchange and consultation with a view to consolidating, through the enforcement of the Code of Conduct, achievements made thus far and the basic principles governing the special procedures; and the importance, to this end, of active participation by the special procedures in the universal periodic review mechanism as soon as it is set up. The Special Rapporteur has called this mechanism an historic turning point and a major stride in the promotion and protection of human rights. 32. In the margin of this meeting, the Special Rapporteur participated in a number of activities, including a discussion on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in which he referred to his systematic recommendations in his recent mission reports concerning a holistic approach to combating all forms of discrimination and, to this end, the need to establish a national body for combating all forms of discrimination on grounds of race, creed, gender, age, disability or sexual preference. He also participated in consultations on possible forms of cooperation with national human rights institutions, during which he stressed the importance of these institutions in the follow-up and implementation of special procedures recommendations. 33. Additionally, the Special Rapporteur took part in an informal consultation of United Nations agencies on questions concerning minorities, which brought together a number of special procedures mandate-holders and representatives of United Nations agencies. After stressing the linkage between respect for the rights of 07-49048 11