A/HRC/FMI/2021/1 Discussions During the two-day session, participants will be invited to contribute to four panel discussions under the general topic of “Conflict prevention and the protection of the human rights of minorities”. Each panel discussion will be introduced briefly by a number of experts and facilitated by a moderator, who will guide the discussion towards the formulation of specific recommendations. Recommendations emanating from four regional forums (the Americas, Africa and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe) held in 2021 under the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues will also be considered, in order to include greater regional input and views on the issues to be discussed at the session. Participants will be encouraged to make statements or comments, to answer questions from the moderator and to suggest recommendations to be included in the outcome document that the Special Rapporteur will present to the Human Rights Council at its forty-ninth session. 2. Root causes of contemporary conflicts involving minorities States where promises of equality and universal human rights for minorities appear hollow because of discriminatory or exclusionary practices are fertile ground for long-standing grievances leading to frustration, resentment, anger and, eventually, violence. As the groundbreaking joint United Nations and World Bank study of 2018 on Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict pointed out, the main drivers of instability globally are group-based grievances around exclusion and injustice; in other words, the root causes of most of today’s violent conflicts are usually intimately linked to breaches of the human rights of minority communities. A fresh look at these issues and the need to better address the grievances of minorities and the protection of their human rights is necessary to give new impetus to a human rights system with regard to the protection of certain minorities. Grievances may fester beneath the surface for years, or even decades, before violent conflict breaks out. Certain situations of systematic exclusion may escalate from chronic grievances to violent conflict because of numerous factors, such as the denial of status to a minority language, the denigration of a community’s identity or unequal participation in employment or educational or public life, and exclusion from the equal benefits of economic and resource allocation. Developing a capacity to identify the root causes of conflicts is crucial for States and intergovernmental organizations. Inspired by and building upon the report presented more than 10 years ago by the first Independent Expert on minority issues, on minority rights and conflict revention (A/HRC/16/45), and more recent developments, such as Pathways to Peace, the Forum will, at the present session, reflect on identifying and addressing the root causes of conflicts involving minorities. It will consider how early awareness of root causes involving State policies and practices that disadvantage or exclude minorities can also be the most effective means to prevent conflicts. Participants will focus on how to monitor risk factors. Lastly, the Forum will explore the role of States, intergovernmental organizations, civil society and minorities in tackling at an early stage the root causes that may be in breach of human rights obligations, such as the right to equality and the prohibition of discrimination. 3. Legal and institutional frameworks: the human rights of minorities and conflict prevention The Declaration on the Rights of Minorities states in its preamble that the implementation of minority rights contributes to the stability of States. Since the Declaration was adopted in 1992, this assumption has since been developed in successive resolutions of the General Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council, in the reports of the Secretary-General (see A/54/2000, paras. 202–203), outcome documents of a number of conferences (see A/CONF.189/12 and Corr.1, chap. I), and policy processes. 2