A/HRC/4/19 page 9 the intellectual and cultural strategy that the Special Rapporteur recommends to strengthen the political and legal strategy for eradicating the root causes of racist and xenophobic attitudes and cultures. For it is the long memory of history - its writing and its teaching - that forms national identities, the root cause of national, ethnic and religious hatred. The Special Rapporteur also welcomes the mobilization and activation of Japanese civil society in efforts to counter racism and xenophobia. He commends, in particular, the establishment, with the encouragement from the International Movement against Racism and Discrimination, of an NGO network to support efforts to combat racism and xenophobia by promoting the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as well as the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in his mission report. 15. As part of the follow-up to his visit to Brazil, the Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Government for organizing the Regional Conference of the Americas on the progress and challenges of the plan of action against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, held in Brasilia from 26 to 28 July 2006. The conference, which brought together representatives of Governments and civil society in the region, was the largest international meeting yet held for the evaluation and promotion of the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at the regional level. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to commend the Government of Brazil on its catalytic role in work on the preliminary draft of the inter-American convention against racism and all forms of discrimination and intolerance.1 The Special Rapporteur believes that South America is currently the most highly mobilized region in respect of the implementation of the Durban Programme of Action, owing in particular to the leadership of Brazil, the commitment of a growing number of political leaders and the active and mutually supportive mobilization of communities that have traditionally suffered from discrimination, in particular indigenous communities and communities of African descent. Indeed, he considers that any major breakthrough in the eradication of racism in South America, historically and geographically the scene of the systematic application of racism and the ideological pillar of the slave system and European colonization, will encourage efforts to combat racism and to implement the Durban Programme of Action in other regions of the world. 16. As part of the follow-up to his visit to Canada, the Special Rapporteur noted with great interest the appointment, on 27 September 2005, of Michaëlle Jean, a woman of Haitian origin, as Governor General of Canada, who has become the third woman and first black person to occupy the post. The Special Rapporteur believes that this appointment is a particularly significant indication of Canada’s commitment to the construction of a democratic, egalitarian and interactive multiculturalism and the long-term campaign against racism and xenophobia. In anticipation of more detailed information from the Canadian Government, civil society 1 See the resolution adopted on 6 June 2006 by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States and the “preliminary draft inter-American convention against racism and all forms of discrimination and intolerance” (CP/CAJP-2357/06), available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.civil-society.oas.org/English/CJPA/CP16076E.doc.