Item II—International and regional human rights frameworks and core principles on the rights of minorities to political participation 4 Mr Ion Diaconu, Member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, provided participants with an overview of existing international and regional standards and principles with a view to set the framework for the ensuing discussions. Item III—Obstacles to effective political participation faced by minorities 5 Issues for presentation and discussion under agenda item III included the barriers that minority populations face in their aspirations for civic participation including: discriminatory biases within the larger society; the impact of racist and xenophobic political platforms; language requirements to register to vote or hold public offices; inaccessibility of polling places to minority communities; the particular constraints on the participation of women; limited availability of civic and voter education in minority languages. Ms. Epsy Campbell, former Presidential candidate in Costa Rica gave a presentation in which she underlined the necessity to set up periodic elections and to ensure that all citizens, including minorities, are represented with a view to subsequently participate in all decision-making bodies. She stated that, despite the ethnic diversity of societies in Latin American countries, there remained obstacles for minorities to access the power structures. As a matter of example, she referred to the situation of women of African descent who, despite being numerous in the region, were hardly represented in decisionmaking bodies. Mr Anders Johnsson, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, addressed two aspects: gaining access to parliament by minorities and subsequently influencing its work as a member. The first aspect related to the way political parties operate and their willingness to include minorities in their electoral lists. The second aspect referred to the work of minority parliamentarians and the remaining obstacles in promoting the rights of minority groups. Ms. Jayshree Mangubhai gave a presentation on the “Obstacles to the political participation of Dalit women” in India, stressing that their political participation as a large minority community remains disproportionately low. She underlined that the quota system which has resulted in over 100,000 Dalit women elected representatives across the country today has not always led to effective political participation for the majority of them. She provided a few recommendations, including to: - focus explicitly on the political empowerment of Dalit women in national development plans; 4 The full text of the Expert’s presentation is available on the Forum’s website: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/oral_statements_forum_minority_2009.htm 5 The full text of the presentations is available on the Forum’s website: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/oral_statements_forum_minority_2009.htm 5