A/CONF.189/PC.1/7 page 37 (b) Establishment of an independent authority to ensure equal opportunity and to monitor racial and religious discrimination 143. States should consider establishing, as several countries have already done (Australia, Belgium, India, Norway, United States), an independent authority to monitor racial and religious discrimination and, more particularly, aggravated discrimination, and to make proposals for legislative, economic and social reforms. This authority should have genuine autonomy, i.e. its members should be independent of Government, and it must be given guarantees of security and inviolability. Its task would be, inter alia, to receive and consider complaints relevant to its work. It may also initiate and pursue inquiries on its own motion, entrusting them to one of its members or independent specialists. Lastly, it would be responsible for conciliation or mediation, in cooperation with domestic judicial bodies, among the parties belonging to different ethnic and/or religious groups, and for dealing with disputes arising from acts of religious and racial intolerance.144 B. Prevention of aggravated discrimination 144. In several of his reports, the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance summarizes the essence of what needs to be done in this area: “Human minds are the source of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief, and should therefore be the main target of any action to curb such behaviour” (A/50/440, para. 82). In matters of human rights, a culture of tolerance cannot be imposed. Prevention therefore has a crucial role to play. The enormous progress that has been made in protecting human rights has been due to preventive action and a positive evolution of the human mind. Action can be taken in several areas: education and training, information and communication, inter- and intra-denominational dialogue, town planning and democracy and development. 1. Education and training 145. Central to prevention is the idea of education and culture in the broadest sense of the terms. It is not only poor or inadequate punitive legislation that produces acts of discrimination; culture and education, although they may not actively promote such attitudes, may not do enough to stigmatize them. The role of education was recognized very early on in several international instruments.145 “Education can make a decisive contribution to the internalization of values based on human rights and to the emergence, both at the individual as well as the group level, of attitudes and behaviour reflecting tolerance and non-discrimination” (A/50/440, para. 36). Tomorrow’s decision-makers and citizens can begin acquiring a spirit of tolerance and a positive image of others at a very early age. The school, like the family, is a place where minds are formed, whether tolerant or not; it is a key element of action to prevent religious and ethnic discrimination. The school, and especially primary and secondary school, is a prime training ground for the fight against racial and religious discrimination. The provisions of article 5, paragraph 2 of the Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice of 27 November 1978, are very useful in that regard: States and other competent authorities and the teaching profession must ensure “that curricula and textbooks include scientific and ethical considerations concerning human unity and diversity and that no invidious distinctions are made with regard to any people”, and should make “the resources of the educational system available to all groups of the population”.146 It is essential to disseminate and popularize the principles contained in the