E/CN.4/2006/74 page 16 60. Serious concerns also arise in States emerging from communal violence and conflicts. There is an urgent need in such societies that minorities feel reassured that their new post-war societies fully embrace multi-ethnic identities and provide effective participation to previously warring ethnic or religious factions. Within that context, the independent expert will seek to highlight best practices and effective mechanisms for valuing diversity as an organizing principle within democratic systems. 61. The independent expert is deeply concerned by the proliferation of counter-terrorism measures that violate the rights of minority communities and create a climate that emboldens abusive individuals. Some communities, including ethnic and religious minorities, are disproportionately affected by counter-terrorism measures, including the use of emergency powers in relation to normal judicial processes. These communities are under more stress, their livelihoods are more threatened and the value of their integration is more brazenly questioned in the post-September 11 security environment. The independent expert stresses that counter-terrorism measures should be implemented only in full consideration of minority rights, and that, in times of public emergency, measures restricting other rights must not be discriminatory on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin. In this regard, the independent expert will seek to work with the new Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism. 62. Given the breadth of work that demands attention with respect to minority issues, the independent expert believes it is important to focus her upcoming work on three broad strategic objectives that will promote the broader goals of minority inclusion in society and minority protection within the United Nations system. These three objectives are (a) to increase the focus on minority communities in the context of poverty alleviation and development; (b) to increase the understanding of minority issues in the context of ensuring stable societies; and (c) to mainstream the consideration of minority issues within the work of the United Nations and other important multilateral forums. The identification of these three objectives in no way precludes the independent expert from addressing other issues or emergency concerns as the need arises. Rather, it is intended to shape the contours of her work under the mandate, and to respond in a concrete way to some of the most important global concerns in the areas of minority inclusion and protection. 63. In furtherance of these three strategic objectives, the independent expert will apply the provisions and principles of the Declaration on the Rights of Minorities. By working within such a framework, she will provide a unique and otherwise overlooked consideration of minority issues, ensuring that her work brings added value separate and distinct from the work of other United Nations mandate-holders and bodies. Poverty and minority communities 64. Minority groups that face widespread discrimination or exclusion are much more likely than other groups to be impoverished. The facts are both obvious and overwhelming. The poorest communities in almost any region tend to be minority communities that have been targets of longstanding discrimination, violence or exclusion. As such, poverty within minority