UNITED NATIONS • Forum on Minority Issues Introduction to the Forum on Minority Issues On 28 September 2007, the United Nations Human Rights Council established a Forum on Minority Issues. The Council envisaged the Forum providing a platform for dialogue and cooperation on minority issues and mandated it with the task to identify and analyze best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The Forum provides thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues, and produces thematic recommendations for use by all those concerned with minority issues. The Forum also contributes to efforts to improve cooperation within the United Nations system relating to the promotion and protection of the rights of minorities. The Forum meets annually in Geneva, Switzerland for two working days under the guidance of the Independent Expert on minority issues, who is required to prepare its annual meetings and report its thematic recommendations to the Human Rights Council. A Chair is appointed annually on the basis of regional rotation and usually belongs to a minority. Each session is devoted to consideration of a key thematic subject in the field of minority issues. Over 400 participants have attended each session of the Forum from every region, including representatives of States, regional inter-governmental bodies, United Nations bodies, mechanisms and specialized agencies, and civil society organizations working on minority issues and with and on behalf of minority communities. Crucial to the Forum is the full participation of minorities themselves, ensuring that their voices and opinions, including those of women and young people from minorities, are reflected in all of the Forum’s work and its recommendations. To-date the Forum has addressed one thematic issue for detailed consideration during each meeting. Over the course of the first years of the Forum, effective working practices have been developed based on the provision of a set of draft recommendations. A number of identified expert minority participants are requested to introduce agenda items followed by interventions from all participants, many of whom are also minorities. All are encouraged to present their views and experiences regarding challenges, but also to provide essential information about good practices and positive initiatives in the field of minority issues and minority/majority relations. The final recommendations are therefore shaped from the diverse experiences of Compilation of Recommendations of the First Four Sessions 2008 to 2011 vii