A/76/178 IV. International legal framework 68. Relevant international standards are reviewed in an annex to the present report, owing to the word limit. 86 V. Parting reflections on the work of the cultural rights mandate 69. Being a Special Rapporteur is like pushing a glacier uphill with a toothpick. The challenges of, on the one hand, having two full time jobs, minimal staff of whom you are not the supervisor, an underresourced United Nations human rights bureaucracy that sometimes treats you as competition, and, on the other hand, confronting constant, ongoing violations, are tremendous. However, the creativity and dedication of special procedures mandate holders with whom the Special Rapporteur has collaborated, the commitment of civil society partners, the resilience of victims and cultural rights defenders – and cooperation among all these actors – can produce positive results. Just to cite a few examples, the Special Rapporteur is gratified by releases of some cultural rights defenders whose cases the mandate raised and to see that General Assembly resolution 75/258 concerning attacks on religious sites employed language from her 2016 report on cultural heritage. 70. However, more work must be done to construct the human rights system we need for the twenty-first century. The greatest challenges for the cultural rights mandate include the following: the lack of accountability for violations of cultural rights; the insufficient commitment to and funding for culture around the world, even in the field of human rights; the attempted misuses of cultural rights to justify violations of human rights; and discrimination. These must be addressed with determination. 71. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Human Rights Council for entrusting her with this important mandate and expresses gratitude to those who supported her work. However, she shares two concerns that need to be addressed. First, she asks the friends of human rights to work to strengthen the independence of the Special Rapporteurs within the United Nations system, including by finding ways to provide direct financial support to them which they are able to access and in accord with the Code of Conduct, allowing them greater participation in staffing and funding decisions, ensuring commitment to implementation of mandate holders’ priorities and vision, and ensuring respect for mandate holders’ editorial choices in their reports. 72. Second, she again calls upon States and other relevant entities to implement and monitor the implementation of recommendations in country and thematic reports. Recipients should review all past communications received, ensure full investigation of allegations and take measures to halt violations, ensure remedies a nd hold perpetrators accountable. 87 The Special Rapporteur deeply regrets that some of those whose cases she has raised remain in detention, even during the pandemic, or otherwise have not obtained remedies. 73. Great progress has been made around the world in recognizing cultural rights for all without discrimination, and specifically in recognizing those rights as core parts of the universal human rights framework, while rejecting relativism. Yet, grave violations continue. A teacher can still be beheaded for showing a cartoon, a migrant family run down while walking in public space, a cultural rights defender imprisoned indefinitely. This is unacceptable. The special procedures system must be fully __________________ 86 87 21-10019 Available on request from the Secretariat and on the homepage of the cultural rights mandate https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/culturalrights/pages/srculturalrightsindex.aspx. During her terms, until 5 July 2021, 293 communications were sent and 126 replies received. 19/22