A/HRC/37/26 fellowship programme. Thus, in 2017, national fellows joined the OHCHR presence in Colombia and the Republic of Moldova and the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office in Sri Lanka under the auspices of the OHCHR Senior Human Rights Adviser. 33. Several mechanisms have continued to express concern at the lack of full and effective participation of minorities in public life, including political participation at the national, regional and local levels, which constitutes a fundamental pillar of minority rights. Treaty bodies have recommended that States take measures to increase the representation of minority groups as decision makers, including as prosecutors and judges, at all levels of the criminal justice system.16 The universal periodic review has also recommended that States continue their efforts to guarantee the representation in political and public life of women belonging to minorities and establish effective platforms for dialogue with representatives of minority groups, in order to be properly informed about their problems and needs, and develop policies and programmes to improve their situation. 17 In August 2017, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued its general comment No. 24 (2017) on State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities. Among the groups that are often disproportionately affected by the adverse impact of business activities are ethnic or religious minorities. 34. In her reflections on her six-year tenure, issued in July 2017, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues expressed her concern at the limited minority presence in political and public offices. She stressed the need to ensure that minorities were included in all decisionmaking processes, including in municipal and government structures, law enforcement bodies, the judiciary, legislative bodies, criminal justice systems and all other relevant bodies and mechanisms, especially when their decisions affected minorities. Without their participation, those bodies were less able to take vital decisions for the benefit of all sectors of society and might lose the trust of minority groups who were reluctant to access public services and/or discouraged from doing so. Moreover, good and inclusive governance, which included minorities and measures to ensure equality, was critical to conflict prevention (see A/HRC/34/53, para. 70). 35. In her report on her official visit to the Republic of Moldova, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues noted that a key issue stressed by the vast majority of interlocutors was the underrepresentation of minorities in political institutions, particularly in central government, and what was described by some as the marginalization and exclusion of regions with relevant minority populations from national decision-making processes. She recommended that the country consider adopting measures aimed at ensuring and strengthening the political participation of minorities and their full involvement in decisionmaking bodies, including through reserved seats or the redrawing of electoral districts to allow densely populated minority communities to elect their own representatives. In relation to her official visit to Iraq, the Special Rapporteur recommended that the Government establish a comprehensive legal and policy framework for the protection of minorities, in close consultation with minority communities. She also recommended intensifying efforts to promote national reconciliation to build trust and bridges between communities, and to ensure that minorities were fully included in such efforts (A/HRC/34/53/Add.1). With regard to her official visit to Sri Lanka, she stressed that the overwhelming sense of marginalization felt by minorities must be addressed by taking immediate measures to ensure their participation and representation in public life, particularly in shaping decisions that affect them. The effective and meaningful participation of all groups in the political arena conferred trust and legitimacy in governance (A/HRC/34/53/Add.3). 36. At the country level, the human rights office of UNAMI continued to advocate for strengthening the Office on Minorities Issues under the National Reconciliation Committee, reporting to the Office of the Prime Minister. During the reporting period, the Office on Minorities Issues piloted a series of consultations with Christian, Yazidi, Shabak, Turkmen 16 17 10 See, for example, CERD/C/NZL/CO/21-22, paras. 24–25. See, for example, A/HRC/WG.6/27/IDN/2, para. 33, and A/HRC/36/15, para. 131.33.