A/76/162 B. Successful regional approaches and engagement 7. In his first report to the Human Rights Council in March 2018, the Special Rapporteur identified the necessity of a regional approach to the Forum on Minority Issues, in order to make it more accessible to minorities in different parts of the world and better reflect regional expertise, concerns and contexts. 1 The first steps towards such an approach were undertaken in 2019, with the organization in May 2019 of a European regional forum at the European Parliament in Brussels, an Asia -Pacific regional forum in Bangkok in September 2019 and a regional forum for the Africa and Middle East region in Tunis in October 2019, all on the theme of education, language and the human rights of minorities. 8. Although initially planned for four regions (Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Africa and Middle East region and the Americas), the 2020 regional forums on hate speech and incitement to hatred against persons belonging to minorities through social media had to be postponed, with only three eventually held online, because of the cor onavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2021, four regional forums are to be held on conflict prevention and the human rights of minorities: the Americas and the Africa Middle East regional forums, held online on 27 and 28 April and on 15 and 16 June, respectively; the Asia-Pacific regional forum, to be held on 7 and 8 September; and the European regional forum, to be held in Vienna on 12 and 13 October. 9. To summarize, the regional approach increasingly engages States as well as regional experts, representatives and participants. The Americas regional forum, hosted by the Government of Mexico in April 2021, had a very significant level of State and civil society participation, with official representatives of 14 States and more than 200 participants overall. For the Africa-Middle East regional forum in June 2021, over 300 participants from more than 28 countries registered to participate, and officials from 13 States also registered. 10. The most recent Africa-Middle East regional forum illustrates some of the innovations and successes in the mandate holder’s regional approach. For example, a significant number of high-level State officials took active part, including the Minister of Justice of the Gambia in the capacity of host State, the Special Adviser t o the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, the Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, the Permanent Observer of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the United Nations, the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Regional Representative for the Middle East and North Africa and the Director of the Department of Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar. 11. With the support of minority representatives and especially the former minority fellows, social media flyers promoting the call for participation had been translated into 15 minority/regional languages and shared by the Special Rapp orteur and partners on social media. Numerous minority representatives praised such an initiative. According to the feedback received, this initiative was especially important for minorities whose languages are threatened, such as around 100 Assyrians who mobilized around the translation of the poster in their language. Stronger engagement with minority groups during the organizational process of the regional forum led to several publications featuring the call for participation in minority media. 12. Coverage during the regional forum was also significantly higher, with the live stream of the first day of the regional forum being viewed more than 1,000 times. The targeted and focused promotion of the event’s hashtags, as well as live -streaming of __________________ 1 4/22 A/HRC/37/66, para. 64. 21-09902