II • Minorities and effective political participation Religious and Linguistic Minorities, including reference to recommendations of the Forum on the effective political participation of minorities; (b) Develop regional workshops for minority political actors and other minority stakeholders; (d) Increase the proportion of the resources devoted to activities directly related to the effective participation of minorities in political and economic life; (e) Encourage States to develop and/or enhance minority youth professional training initiatives, such as minority fellowships and internships in national, regional and international government agencies, such as those of the United Nations. 43. The United Nations country teams, should, where appropriate, establish country specific consultative structures for minorities on participation in political processes. 44. The Inter-Parliamentary Union should organize an international meeting of parliamentary representatives and their staff to discuss how the effective participation of minorities in political decision-making could best be promoted. It should also set up an online clearing house on the political participation of minorities to provide a single point of access to the large amount of information that is already available at the national, regional and international levels. 45. The Inter-Agency Group on Minority Issues should devote one of its upcoming meetings to the topic of effective participation by minorities to discuss the respective roles played by its members in promoting effective participation, within the broader framework of article 9 of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. 46. In order to ensure the effective participation of minorities in the deliberations held at the level of the United Nations, Governments should consider providing funding for the participation of civil society minority representatives in future sessions of the Forum on Minority Issues and other relevant meetings. G. The media 47. In both the public and private sectors, the media should make efforts to inform the society at large of minority-related issues, including by broadcasting in minority languages and emphasizing the importance of political participation for minorities. Special programmes should be developed during elections with a view to raising awareness within minority communities of the issues at stake, the platforms of the various political parties, registration procedures and other relevant information related to the election process. Compilation of Recommendations of the First Four Sessions 2008 to 2011 23 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION (c) Support activities for training/capacity-building and outreach, including for representatives of minorities;

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