A/76/162 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues submits the present report to the General Assembly pursuant to his mandate, as established in Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/79 and extended most recently by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 43/8. 2. The Special Rapporteur provides a summary of his activities in 2020 and 2021 since his previous report to the General Assembly (A/75/211), then introduces a study on minorities, equal participation, social and economic development and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Special Rapporteur intends to use the present study to consider the need to maintain focus on the human rights dimension of development and how there unfortunately appears to be a misapprehension as to the application of Sustainable Development Goals that at times leads to development being prioritized over human rights, with too often the result that minorities again find themselves “left behind”, disproportionally excluded or disadvantaged despite the objectives sought by the Goals. The Special Rapporteur notes that some States appear to deny or disregard the human rights of minorities, in particular their right to equally and fully participate in economic and social development activities and benefits. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur in 2020 and 2021 3. The Special Rapporteur has engaged in a number of activities, with the aim of conducting thematic studies; conducting country missions; communicating with Governments and other actors on alleged violations of the rights of minorities; promoting good practices; and increasing awareness and understanding on the human rights of persons belonging to minorities, which underpin his mandate. Some of the focus areas addressed and activities carried out are highlighted below. A. Activities related to thematic priorities 4. The Special Rapporteur identified four thematic priorities in his first statement to the General Assembly in October 2017. In 2018, he focused on the theme of statelessness, and he continues to raise this issue often in presentations and through his participation in activities around the world, as highlighted in the present report. 5. The Special Rapporteur engaged in further activities for all four thematic priorities: statelessness, education and language of minorities, hate speech and social media, and the prevention of ethnic conflicts through the protection of the rights of minorities. As in the cases of statelessness and hate speech on social media, most contemporary violent conflicts tend to involve minorities (and in many cases indigenous peoples where they constitute at the same time minorities) over long standing grievances of discrimination, exclusion and other situations of human rights violations. 6. Among these activities are the preparation of a practical guide on the implementation of the rights of minorities in relation to education in and teaching of minority languages, to be completed by the end of 2021. Work has also started on a further guide on the eradication of statelessness of minorities by ensuring non-discrimination in citizenship laws and practices. 21-09902 3/22