In some cases OSCE States are faced with serious fiscal limitations which could legitimately hamper their capacity to implement education policies and programmes for the benefit of national minorities. Although some rights must be implemented immediately States should strive to achieve, progressively, the full realization of minority language education rights to the maximum of their available resources, including through international assistance and cooperation in the spirit of article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. DECENTRALIZATION AND PARTICIPATION Article 15 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, paragraph 30 of the Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE and article 3 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities all underline the necessity for national minorities to participate in the decision-making process, especially in cases when the issues being considered affect them directly. Effective participation in the decision-making process, especially as it affects minorities, is an essential component of the democratic process. The active involvement of parents at local and regional levels, as well as the effective participation of institutions representing national minorities in the educational process (including the process of curriculum development as it relates to minorities), should be facilitated by States in the spirit of paragraph 35 of the Copenhagen Document which stresses the importance of effective participation of members of national minorities in public affairs including in the affairs relating to the protection and promotion of their own identity. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights refers to the right of minorities to use their language in community with other members of their group. Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights guarantees the right of parents to choose for their children schools other than those established by public authorities. It also guarantees the right of individuals and bodies to establish and manage alternative educational 12 The Hague Recommendations - October 1996