A/HRC/15/42 Declaration, which provides for the right of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life. 16. The Forum was chaired by Barbara Lee, a Congresswoman and chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus, a civil rights organization in the United States of America. The work of the Forum was also guided by the independent expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall. The session of the Forum was attended by representatives of United Nations mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations and mechanisms in the field of human rights, academics, experts on minority issues and civil society representatives. More than 500 people were accredited to participate, including delegates from more than 45 States. 17. OHCHR provided substantive support to the Forum. In this regard, one of its contributions was a document on the work of OHCHR and human rights bodies regarding minorities and the right to effective participation (A/HRC/FMI/2009/5). The document also contained a description of thematic advice, capacity-building and field engagement activities carried out by OHCHR and aimed at advancing the right of persons belonging to minorities to participate in decision-making. 18. The Forum made thematic, action-oriented recommendations intended to increase the inclusion and recognition of minorities in decision-making processes, while enabling them to maintain their own identity and characteristics. The Forum submitted the recommendations made at its second session to the Council at its thirteenth session (A/HRC/13/25). 19. During the Forum, OHCHR organized, on 13 November 2009, a panel discussion entitled “The Minorities Declaration: challenges and opportunities”. The event brought together a panel of six experts that examined the extent to which regional organizations, civil society actors and other stakeholders had been using the Declaration as a tool and source of reference in their work. The event also offered an opportunity for the panellists and the other participants to identify positive examples and main obstacles relevant to the use of the Declaration. Proposals aimed at encouraging its wider use at the international, regional and country levels were also made. Most participants commented that the Declaration was imbued with legal authority by virtue of the fact that it is rooted in equality and non-discrimination, principles well established under international law and international human rights law. The need to use the Declaration more widely was also stressed. 20. On 11 November 2009, prior to the Forum, OHCHR and Minority Rights Group International organized a half-day preparatory workshop for civil society and other minority representatives. The purpose of the workshop was to provide a briefing for interested parties on substantive and procedural lessons learned from the first session of the Forum, in order to maximize the effectiveness of their participation in the second. D. Capacity-building of civil society 21. With regard to the capacity-building of civil society, OHCHR continued its Minority Fellowship Programme in 2009, to empower representatives of minority communities by providing them with human rights training to enable them to better secure their rights at the national level through improved use of the United Nations human rights mechanisms. In 2009, participants in the programme came from Australia, Costa Rica, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Pakistan and the Syrian Arab Republic. 22. The English-language fellowship lasted over three months and involved intensive training at OHCHR headquarters in Geneva. During the programme, the fellows attended 6 GE.10-14893