A/60/283 against racism in sport and invites them to become more involved through projects designed to improve knowledge and appreciation of others. IV. Cooperation with regional organizations 51. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the increased cooperation with EUMC, the European Union agency responsible for combating racism and xenophobia based in Vienna. As part of this cooperation, which was initiated during the Special Rapporteur’s visit to Vienna on 7 and 8 October 2004, a joint declaration was published on 21 March 2005 on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. A joint meeting was also organized in Vienna on 1 March 2005 with a view to organizing an event against racism in sport during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Furthermore, on 16 and 17 December 2004, an assistant of the Special Rapporteur participated in an EUMC round table which was given the task of identifying possible new directions for the agency’s work and its interaction with its partners. The Special Rapporteur also published an article in the agency’s quarterly review, Equal Voices, in which he discusses new challenges and obstacles in the fight against racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, new ways of responding to them, and the role of identity constructs in the resurgence of racism and xenophobia.6 The Special Rapporteur welcomes this fruitful cooperation with EUMC and intends to increase it further in the future. 52. As regards OSCE, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes the high quality of both the cooperation that was initiated several years ago and the way in which it has developed. As mentioned above in the description of his activities, this cooperation was strengthened by the Special Rapporteur’s participation in the conference held in Cordoba. V. Conclusions and recommendations 53. The Special Rapporteur will submit to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-second session detailed recommendations on the issues covered by his mandate, particularly in the light of his visits. He therefore wishes to make the following recommendations to the General Assembly. 54. The General Assembly is invited to draw the attention of Member States to the alarming signs of a retreat in the struggle against racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia as a result of the growing number of counterterrorism policies and programmes that generate new forms of discrimination against groups and entire communities, religions and spiritual traditions. In this context, the seriousness of the resurgence of Islamophobia must be given particular attention. The General Assembly may wish to also invite Member States to grant greater vigilance to all forms of defamation of religions, in particular anti-Semitism and Christianophobia. __________________ 6 New Challenges and Obstacles in the Fight against Racism”, Equal Voices, Issue No. 15, December 2004. 17

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