E/CN.4/2001/0063 page 47 tragic consequences, such as the inter-faith clashes in Nigeria following the attempted introduction of the sharia, or the violence in the wake of the presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire. 189. Sadly, intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief are ever-present in the world. This admission does not of course detract from the positive results of the 1981 Declaration, and especially the improvements that a number of countries have made in various areas. However, an appraisal of the status of freedom of religion and belief in the world today reveals a somewhat negative and disturbing picture. 190. Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur should continue in his role of investigating breaches of the 1981 Declaration, communicating directly with Governments and reporting on this situation to the international community. He should also strengthen his role in identifying and proposing solutions for dealing with manifestations of intolerance and discrimination and addressing the root causes thereof. In addition to dealing with the everyday aspects of the problem, he should also participate in the elaboration of a long-term prevention strategy. In pursuing this preventive approach, the Special Rapporteur has initially had to confront issues that are both complex and sensitive in terms of specifics and similarities in order to gain an understanding of the whole subject of religious and faith-based intolerance and discrimination. 191. To this end the Special Rapporteur has initiated a number of studies, namely: (a) Two studies in the context of the World Conference against Racism, to which the Special Rapporteur was asked to contribute by the Commission on Human Rights pursuant to its resolutions 1999/78, on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and 1999/39 and 2000/33, on implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief: (i) An initial study entitled “Racial discrimination and religious discrimination: identification and measures” (A/CONF.189/PC.1/7; see summary in A/55/280, paras. 111-117). The Special Rapporteur notes that if United Nations rules and mechanisms are studied against the background of discrimination as it is actually practiced throughout the world, the distinctions between racial and religious categories, or even between commonly used concepts or terms, are not clear, whether the subject is minorities or religion. There are borderline cases where racial and religious distinctions are far from clear-cut. Apart from any discrimination, the identity of many minorities, or even large groups of people, is defined by both racial and religious aspects. Hence, many instances of discrimination are aggravated by the effects of multiple identities. Moreover, the right to freedom of religion is an essential human right, just like the right to belong to an ethnic group or to a minority. When both of these rights are infringed in the case of a single person or group of persons, the violation is not just a superimposition or ordinary addition of offences. The combination of the two offences creates a new, more serious offence which, while of varying intensity, is by its very nature a separate concept. The Special Rapporteur has noted