A/HRC/37/26 I. Introduction 1. The year 2017 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. In the Declaration, adopted by the General Assembly by consensus in resolution 47/135, the Assembly stresses that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities contribute to the political and social stability of the States in which they live. The Declaration offers States and other stakeholders guidance on the measures to be undertaken to guarantee minority rights, with a view to realizing the principles laid down in the Charter of the United Nations and international and regional human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and, in particular, its article 27. 2. Despite the global consensus behind the principles of the Declaration, persons belonging to minorities continue to be targets of human rights violations, including continuous violence against ethnic and religious minorities, discrimination against minority groups, poor participation of minorities in public life and many others, also described by human rights bodies, mechanisms and field presences. Increasing hate speech, xenophobic rhetoric and incitement to hatred against minorities, coupled with the rise of extremists and far-right political parties, is putting the progress achieved during the past decades in the field of minority rights protection under threat. II. United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities 3. According to article 9 of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system shall contribute to the full realization of the rights and principles set forth in the Declaration. That task affects all three pillars of the United Nations: human rights, development and peace and security, and requires systemwide, coordinated engagement. Such work is facilitated by the United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities, coordinated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which aims to engage the entire United Nations system. The guidance note of the Secretary-General on racial discrimination and protection of minorities and the related action plan for the period 2014–2017 provide the framework. 4. During the reporting period, the United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities pursued its efforts to boost dialogue and cooperation between relevant United Nations departments, agencies, funds and programmes, in accordance with the four-year plan of action adopted in 2014. In that context, in March 2017, OHCHR organized a seminar in Santiago on integrating minorities into development programming and on the guidance note of the Secretary-General on racial discrimination and protection of minorities. As contained in the plan of action of the seminar, that initiative is one of the subregional knowledge exchange opportunities based on experiences of working on racial discrimination and protection of minorities that are organized with United Nations field presences. The seminar had a particular focus on Afrodescendants. 5. In May 2017, OHCHR conducted a mission to the Republic of Moldova to present the United Nations minority rights standards and the guidance note to United Nations colleagues and other key stakeholders, and encourage the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues on her mission to the country in June 2016. The role of the United Nations in supporting implementation at the country level of the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur was also discussed. In the framework of the visit, the delegation met with a wide range of stakeholders, including government officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Social Protection, Education and Justice, the Bureau of Inter-ethnic Relations and the Audiovisual Coordinating Council. The OHCHR team also met with local authorities and civil society representatives, practising lawyers, former fellows of the 3