UNITED NATIONS

A
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/2 7 August 2008 Original: ENGLISH

DURBAN REVIEW CONFERENCE Preparatory Committee Intersessional open-ended intergovernmental working group to follow up the work of the Preparatory Committee Second session Geneva, 1-5 September 2008 AGENDA AND ANNOTATIONS THERETO Prepared by the Secretary-General AGENDA (as adopted by the working group on 26 May 2008) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Opening of the session. Election of Chairperson-Rapporteur. Adoption of the agenda. Organization of work. Implementation of the mandate of the working group as contained in Preparatory Committee decision PC.2/4 of 22 April 2008 entitled "Establishment and dates of the intersessional open-ended intergovernmental working group". Report of the working group to the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference.

6.

GE.08-14915 (E) 150808

A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/2 page 2 Annotations Item 1. Opening of the session 1. Pursuant to decision PC.2/4 on the establishment and dates of the intersessional open-ended intergovernmental working group adopted by the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference on 22 April 2008, the working group should hold two sessions, of one week each. The Preparatory Committee decided that the first session should take place from 26 to 30 May 2008 and the second session from 30 June to 4 July, or at any other time agreed by the working group. 2. The first session of the working group was held from 26 to 28 May 2008. The working group decided to convene its second session from 1 to 5 September 2008. Item 2. Election of Chairperson-Rapporteur 3. At its first substantive session, on 25 April 2008, the Preparatory Committee designated Mr. Zohrab Mnatsakanian, Ambassador of Armenia and Vice-Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, to the post of the Chairperson of the intersessional open-ended intergovernmental working group to follow up the work of the Preparatory Committee. At the beginning of the first session of this working group, on 26 May 2008, Mr. Mnatsakanian was formally elected as Chairperson-Rapporteur of the working group. Item 3. Adoption of the agenda 4. At its first session, the working group had before it a document containing the provisional agenda prepared by the Secretary-General and the annotations thereto (A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/1). On 26 May 2008, the agenda was adopted by the working group. The present document contains the agenda as adopted at the first session of the working group. The annotations have been updated to reflect the most recent developments. Item 4. Organization of work 5. The attention of the working group is drawn to the following decisions adopted by the Preparatory Committee at its first substantive session concerning the speaking time limits: (a) The speaking-time limits for the session would be five minutes per statement for Member States of the United Nations and three minutes for all observers; (b) The speaking time for joint statements by Member States should not exceed 10 minutes; (c) The speaking-time limits for joint statements by non-governmental organizations would be as follows: 1 to 2 non-governmental organizations: three minutes; 3 to 5 non-governmental organizations: four minutes; 6 to 10 non-governmental organizations: five minutes; more than 10 non-governmental organizations: six minutes. 6. The Preparatory Committee further decided that non-governmental organizations will be able to participate in the general debate on all substantive agenda items.

A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/2 page 3 7. In its decision PC.2/10 of 2 May 2008 entitled "Documentation for the preparatory process for the Durban Review Conference", the Preparatory Committee decided that all documents submitted as contributions to the preparatory process for the Durban Review Conference and circulated in English only, should be translated into all official languages of the United Nations and made available in time for the relevant meetings of the intersessional open-ended intergovernmental working group. 8. Five documents containing specific contributions to the preparatory process for the Durban Review Conference were issued for the first substantive session of the Preparatory Committee in English only. They will be available to the working group in all official languages of the United Nations: A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/6 (issued earlier as A/CONF.211/PC.2/CRP.2) Compilation of contributions submitted by specialized agencies of the United Nations system, United Nations bodies, regional and other intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations Contribution by the Special Rapporteur on the right to education Compilation of conclusions and recommendations adopted by the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action Replies to the questionnaire submitted by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Replies to the questionnaire by States

A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/7 (issued earlier as A/CONF.211/PC.2/CRP.3) A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/8 (issued earlier as A/CONF.211/PC.2/CRP.4)

A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/9 (issued earlier as A/CONF.211/PC.2/CRP.5) A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/10 (issued earlier as A/CONF.211/PC.2/CRP.6)

9. Additional contributions received by the Secretariat after the circulation of the above documents have been posted on the website of Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/DurbanReview/session1repliesfromMemberStates.htm). 10. The working group will have before it, in document A/CON.211/PC/WG.1/4, a summary of all new contributions from States received by the Secretariat as at 31 July 2008. 11. The working group will also have before it a joint contribution submitted by several special procedures mandate-holders (A/CON.211/PC/WG.1/5).

A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/2 page 4 12. The working group may wish to recall that the following reports issued as documents of the Human Rights Council were also circulated during the first substantive session of the Preparatory Committee: A/HRC/2/3 Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Decent on its seventh session

A/HRC/6/5 A/HRC/7/19

A/HRC/7/36

Item 5. Implementation of the mandate of the working group as contained in Preparatory Committee decision PC.2/4 of 22 April 2008 entitled "Establishment and dates of the intersessional open-ended intergovernmental working group" 13. In its decision PC.2/4 of 22 April 2008, the Preparatory Committee, recalling its decisions PC.1/10 (c) and PC.1/15 of 31 August 2007, decided to establish an intersessional open-ended intergovernmental working group with the mandate to follow up the work of the Preparatory Committee, including through reviewing contributions and commencing negotiations on the draft outcome document, and to report thereon to the Preparatory Committee. 14. The Preparatory Committee, in its decision PC.1/13 of 31 August 2007 entitled "Objectives of the Durban Review Conference", decided that, on the basis of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, General Assembly resolution 61/149 and Human Rights Council resolution 3/2, the objectives of the Durban Review Conference will read as follows: (a) To review progress and assess implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action by all stakeholders at the national, regional and international levels, including assessing contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, through an inclusive, transparent and collaborative process and identify concrete measures and initiatives for combating and eliminating all manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in order to foster the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action;

A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/2 page 5 (b) To assess the effectiveness of the existing Durban follow-up mechanisms and other relevant United Nations mechanisms dealing with the issue of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in order to enhance them; (c) To promote the universal ratification and implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and proper consideration of the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; (d) To identify and share good practices achieved in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 15. In its decision PC.2/8 of 30 April 2008 entitled "Structure of the draft outcome document of the Durban Review Conference", the Preparatory Committee decided that the outcome, consisting of a declaratory part and an action-oriented part containing further actions and initiatives, will be based on contributions submitted in conformity with its decision PC.1/10 and the outcomes of the preparatory meetings and activities at the international, regional and national levels, and shall be drawn up in accordance with the following structure: (a) Review of progress and assessment of implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action by all stakeholders at the national, regional and international levels, including the assessment of contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance: · Sources, causes, forms and contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance · Victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance · Measures of prevention, education and protection aimed at the eradication of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at all levels · Provision of effective remedies, recourse, redress, and compensatory and other measures at all levels · Strategies to achieve full and effective equality, including international cooperation and enhancement of the United Nations and other international mechanisms in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (b) Assessment of the effectiveness of the existing Durban follow-up mechanisms and other United Nations mechanisms dealing with the issue of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in order to enhance them; (c) Promotion of the universal ratification and implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and proper consideration of the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;

A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/2 page 6 (d) Identification and sharing of best practices achieved at the national, regional and international levels in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; (e) Identification of further concrete measures and initiatives at all levels for combating and eliminating all manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, in order to foster the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and to address challenges and impediments thereto, including in the light of developments since its adoption in 2001. 16. At its first session, the working group had before it a "non-paper" submitted by the Chairperson-Rapporteur. This non-paper contained an inventory of issues which were listed following the structure of the draft outcome document of the Durban Review Conference as contained in Preparatory Committee decision PC.2/8. On 27 May 2008, this non-paper was circulated by the Secretariat to all permanent missions in Geneva. 17. The working group agreed with the proposal of its Chairperson-Rapporteur for the establishment of an informal "Group of friends of the Chair" to meet during the intersessional period in order to facilitate the work of the working group at its second session. Each regional group was subsequently invited to nominate up to five representatives to serve as members of this informal group. The composition of the group which held several meetings in the period from June to August 2008 is as follows: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Greece, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Latvia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Uruguay and Turkey. 18. At the present session, the working group will have before it a working document submitted by the Chairperson-Rapporteur (A/CONF.211/PC/WG.1/3). Item 6. Report of the working group to the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference

19. At the conclusion of its work, the working group will consider and adopt its report to the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference which will hold its second substantive session from 6 to 17 October 2008 at Geneva. -----