A/HRC/4/21 page 9 which was held in Prague and she delivered a keynote speech on 25 November 2006. In the course of these various events she was able to establish or renew ties with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental representatives as well as academics active in the field of freedom of religion or belief. II. TWENTY YEARS OF MANDATE EXPERIENCE A. Critical appraisal of the 1981 Declaration 22. The Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief was adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 36/55 on 25 November 1981. The Special Rapporteur has been encouraging Governments and non-governmental organizations to support the commemoration initiatives that take stock of achievements since 1981, identify the provisions of the Declaration that today raise particular concern and to challenge rising trends of religious intolerance. She is delighted that more than 50 Governments were represented at the international conference in Prague on 25 November 2006 and that in total around 300 representatives of Governments, non-governmental organizations, religions and beliefs as well as international and national experts and academics attended this conference. The standards of the 1981 Declaration were reaffirmed at the end of the conference by reading out a Prague Declaration on freedom of religion and belief, which is available online at http://www.tolerance95.cz/1981down/Prague_Declaration_on_FORB.doc. 23. The representative of the Netherlands to the Third Committee of the General Assembly in 1981, Jaap A. Walkate, rightly characterized the road leading towards its adoption as “long, arduous and full of obstacles” (A/36/PV.73, para. 16). Given the significant obstacles during the drafting process, which eventually stalled the elaboration of a convention on religious intolerance until today, it is already an achievement that the 1981 Declaration was finally agreed upon. The Special Rapporteur would like to stress the important role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the framework of the drafting history, which includes lobbying efforts and substantive contributions to the final wording of the declaration. Such an active involvement of civil society is also needed nowadays. The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate her gratefulness for the input of NGOs and religious associations which has been feeding into the work of her mandate. 24. The standards of the 1981 Declaration remain valid and the document may be called a comprehensive historical compromise. In particular, the catalogue of rights enumerated in article 6 of the 1981 Declaration has been an important contribution to the international legal framework, inspiring also regional instruments such as the 1989 Vienna Concluding Document on the human dimension of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. From the perspective of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate, however, there have been subsequent developments since 1981 concerning freedom of religion or belief, including the adoption of further legal instruments and international guidelines, which also need to be taken into account. These human rights instruments include, inter alia, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Furthermore, the Human Rights Committee’s general comment No. 22 (1993) elaborates upon article 18 of the Covenant, thus giving authoritative guidance for Governments and non-governmental organizations. According to the Special Rapporteur’s experience,