elected by the CHR for a period of four years. (See: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/2/subcmem.htm for the current membership.) The Sub-Commission meets every year for three weeks at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Representatives of governments participate as observers, as do representatives of inter-governmental bodies, international organizations and NGOs with ECOSOC consultative status. The Sub-Commission is a human rights think-tank that makes recommendations to the CHR regarding developments, forward-looking studies, monitoring, standard-setting and technical assistance. Decisions on whether to take forward the Sub-Commission’s recommendations are made by the CHR. In undertaking its mandate, the Sub-Commission addresses only thematic human rights issues. The CHR, in 2000, decided that the Sub-Commission would no longer make country-specific Resolutions and should not issue thematic Resolutions that refer to specific countries. It can address country-specific situations that are not being dealt with by the CHR and can discuss grave violations of human rights in any country, but without issuing Resolutions. Thematic issues studied by Sub-Commission members include: the concept and practice of affirmative action, discrimination based on work and descent, indigenous peoples and their relationship to land, the rights of noncitizens, and traditional practices affecting the health of women and the girl child. For more information on SubCommission research, see section 5.2. The Sub-Commission has an agenda item on the prevention of discrimination each year and a sub-item of this on minorities. Minority concerns can and should also be raised under other thematic items. Many members of the Sub-Commission are interested in minority issues and open to discussions with NGOs. Minority NGOs may also be able to feed into the thematic studies by the SubCommissioners by submitting information to them or through informal discussions. The Sub-Commission may suggest the establishment of working groups. Currently, the Sub-Commission has six working groups: the Working Group on Administration of Justice, the Working Group on Communications, the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, the Working Group on Minorities, and the Working Group on Transnational Corporations. The Social Forum The Sub-Commission held the first Social Forum, a oneday meeting on economic, social and cultural rights, immediately before its session in August 2002. SubCommission experts, government representatives, a large MINORITY RIGHTS: A GUIDE TO UNITED NATIONS PROCEDURES AND INSTITUTIONS number of NGOs (with ECOSOC consultative status) and academics participated in the discussions, which focused on globalization and human rights, and the right to adequate food and poverty reduction. NGOs were able to contribute to the discussions on the day. They also held their own meeting before the Social Forum to discuss the themes and presented their conclusions to the Forum, thus maximizing NGO input. NGOs can use the Social Forum to lobby for strong recommendations to be issued by the Sub-Commission to feed through to the higher bodies in the UN system. The 2004 Social Forum will focus on rural poverty, development, and the rights of peasants and other rural communities. 4.4 Working Group on Minorities The Working Group on Minorities (WGM), established in 1995, is the only UN forum dedicated to minority issues. It is a unique forum where representatives of minorities can raise concerns, network with each other and, in some cases, engage in dialogue with representatives of their governments. However, as a subsidiary organ of the Sub-Commission it is low in the hierarchy of UN bodies (see the UN structure in section 1) and its influence is limited. NGOs should consider it as a useful tool in a long-term approach to minority issues. It is not a body which can undertake urgent action when violations occur, nor can it take up situations of violations of minority rights in specific countries and pressure governments into remedying them. The WGM meets for one week per year. It is made up of five expert members of the Sub-Commission, one from each geographical region of the world. The current membership can be found at: http://www.unhchr.ch/ html/menu2/2/subwg.htm. Other participants at WGM meetings include representatives of governments, intergovernmental organizations such as the European Commission, UN agencies, academics and NGOs, the latter often being members of minorities. The advantage of the WGM for minority NGOs is that it is open to NGOs without ECOSOC consultative status. The only conditions are that participating NGOs must not advocate violence and must not be a political party based on ethnicity. To participate, you need to write to the secretariat of the WGM at the OHCHR (see Annex 6.1 for contact details) with background information about your NGO and describing your work with minorities. The secretariat will assess your application and will usually send you an accreditation letter. The OHCHR provides funding for a limited number of people to participate in the WGM (contact the secretariat for details). MRG also facilitates attendance at the WGM through its annual Minority Rights and Advocacy training programme. 31