-9- 7. Future meetings of the Committee. 8. Action by the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session. 9. Discussion on the situation of the occupied Palestinian territory in the light of article 16 of the Convention. 10. Annual report of the Committee on its activities. F. Question of a draft optional protocol to the Convention 10. At the 460th meeting, on 2 May 2001, Mr. Mavrommatis, who had been designated by the Committee as its observer at the inter-sessional open-ended working group of the Commission on Human Rights that is elaborating the protocol, informed the Committee of the progress made by the working group at its ninth session, held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 12 to 23 February 2001. While welcoming the establishment of national mechanisms for the prevention of torture, the Committee expressed its strong support for the creation of an international mechanism which would carry out visits to places of detention and would apply to all States equally. G. Cooperation between the Committee and the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture 11. An informal meeting was held on 18 May 2001 attended by the Chairman of the Committee and two members of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture. H. Contribution to the preparations for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance Twenty-fifth session 12. In its resolution 2000/14, the Commission on Human Rights invited United Nations bodies and mechanisms dealing with the question of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to participate actively in the preparatory process of the World Conference. The General Assembly, in its resolution 54/154, also requested human rights mechanisms to assist the Preparatory Committee and to undertake reviews and submit recommendations concerning the World Conference and the preparations therefor to the Preparatory Committee, through the Secretary-General, and to participate actively in the Conference. Accordingly, on 24 November 2000, the Committee adopted a text which was submitted as its contribution to the second Preparatory Committee to the Conference to be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva in May 2001 (see annex X). The Committee also designated Mr. González Poblete, Mr. Camara and Mr. Yu Mengjia as its representatives to the regional preparatory meetings for the World Conference, namely: (a) the Americas (Santiago, 4-7 December 2000); (b) Africa (Dakar, 22-26 January 2001); and (c) Asia