A/HRC/20/6 States was underscored in the light of their legal obligations under international human rights law, which laid down the responsibility to protect all human rights and to promote and implement the Declaration. States were therefore encouraged to examine their own performance on minority rights and to assess the extent to which they were truly fulfilling their commitments under the Declaration. They were also encouraged to evaluate their legislation and policies to make sure that they were consistent with the Declaration and that they worked effectively to protect the rights of minorities. In this regard, they should gather and study essential disaggregated data on the situation of minorities, which would allow for problems to be identified, and targeted policies and programmes to be adopted and applied, where necessary. This strategy was important in that it would allow States to recognize and quantify the problems that minorities faced. At the same time, disaggregated data would also assist them in their efforts to implement the Declaration and to establish effective solutions for minorities. 15. The role of education in raising the awareness of minorities regarding their rights was also pointed out. Minorities had to know their rights in order to claim them effectively. For this reason, efforts had to be strengthened to promote human rights education and to ensure that it was included in the curricula of schools in all regions, providing children and adults alike with a strong basis of knowledge about the nature of human rights and minority rights, and that those rights belonged to them. Equally, in the field of education, the curricula and teaching materials of schools should reflect fully the diversity of a nation; only then would children belonging to minorities feel that they truly belonged, and children from majorities would understand much more about their classmates with different ethnicities, religions, languages and cultures, helping to break down the barriers that lead to prejudices and discrimination. 16. The role of national human rights institutions in promoting human rights and the Declaration on Minorities was underscored. Mention was made of the interest in the mandates of such institutions, clearly requiring them to monitor and advise Governments on minority issues and to actively promote the Declaration. 17. Minorities themselves needed to increase their efforts to actively advocate for their rights. Minorities and non-governmental organizations working with and on behalf of them had a vital role to play in bringing attention to the Declaration and promoting its implementation nationally. The minorities active in their own countries and regions in support of their rights were frequently the ones who achieved the greatest results and the real changes that improve the lives of people in their communities. Therefore, tools, resources and recommendations inspired by the contents of the Declaration must be given to minorities to enable them to improve the use of the Declaration in their interaction with national and local authorities. 18. Specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system could contribute to the realization of the rights and principles set forth in the Declaration within their respective fields of competence. Reference was made to the collaboration of OHCHR and the mandate of the Independent Expert on minority issues with the United Nations Development Programme in developing a resource guide and toolkit entitled “Marginalized Minorities in Development Programming”. The toolkit was based on the Declaration and other relevant standards, providing a uniquely valuable resource on minority rights issues. 19. Reference was made to the importance of new technology in efforts to raise awareness of the Declaration. Social networking offered new and creative possibilities to inform people about the Declaration and to encourage discussion and the sharing of initiatives. 20. The Human Rights Council had an important role to play in helping to bring visibility to the Declaration. Initiatives of the Council, including the universal periodic 6