A/HRC/43/47 during the Forum, and that it was recommended that sign languages be recognized as languages instituted in law and that legally deaf children have the right to access bilingual education within a sign language environment. 76. The Special Rapporteur notes in particular a call made for regional forums to be held each year before the Forum on Minority Issues in order to provide more accessible and flexible platforms that would enable more contextualized discussions on regional realities. Regional forums would lead to greater regional insights and suggestions that would subsequently be taken into account at the Forum in Geneva and be part of a larger debate. The final report on the 2019 Forum had not yet been finalized at the time of writing of the Special Rapporteur’s report. 77. Although a number of objectives were achieved through the Forum, the Special Rapporteur reiterates his view that there remains the need to consolidate the Forum as a space for interactive dialogue and to increase the engagement of States, United Nations bodies, regional organizations and other stakeholders. Additionally, from a procedural viewpoint, the increasingly large number of participants continues to create frustration as not everyone is able to take the floor under the desired agenda item and to delve into specific thematic issues or concerns, particularly when they are limited to two or three minutes to do so. While a more regional approach may make an interactive dialogue more accessible to minorities in different parts of the world and more receptive to regional concerns and contexts, other possible improvements should also be examined in 2020. Regional forums 78. In his first report to the Human Rights Council, dated 16 January 2018, the Special Rapporteur raised the possibility of taking a more regional approach to the Forum on Minority Issues in order to make the Forum more accessible to minorities in different parts of the world and more receptive to regional concerns and contexts (A/HRC/37/66, para. 64). The first steps towards implementing such an approach were undertaken in 2019, with the organization of three regional forums. The first forum for Europe, with the theme of “Education, language and the human rights of minorities”, was held at the European Parliament in Brussels on 6 and 7 May 2019. The success of this first regional forum created favourable momentum for the subsequent Asia-Pacific regional forum, held at Mahidol University in Bangkok on 20 and 21 September 2019, and the Africa-Middle East regional forum, held in Tunis on 28 and 29 October 2019. It is hoped that four regional forums might be possible in 2020, which would be on the Special Rapporteur’s third thematic priority, that is, tackling through social media hate speech and incitement to hatred against persons belonging to minorities. For the organization and coordination of the three regional forums in 2019, the Special Rapporteur had received the support of numerous regional civil society partners, as well as material and other support from States such as Austria, Canada, Hungary and Slovenia. All three regional forums were coordinated thanks to the Tom Lantos Institute in Budapest. Nearly 300 participants – including from nongovernmental and minority organizations, States, and regional and international organizations (such as UNESCO, OSCE, the European Union and the Council of Europe) – attended this initial round of regional forums. VI. Recommendations A. Recommendations relating to the working definition of the concept of a minority 79. The Special Rapporteur invites United Nations entities to take note of the working definition of the concept of a minority under article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and of the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee and comment on who is a member of a minority in order to adopt and apply more consistently a common approach and understanding and therefore more effectively ensure the full and effective realization of the rights of persons belonging to minorities. 16