FORUM ON MINORITY ISSUES FOURTEENTH SESSION "CONFLICT PREVENTION AND THE PROTECTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF MINORITIES" 2 AND 3 DECEMBER 2021 PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA and VIRTUALLY SUMMARY BY THE CHAIR OF THE FORUM Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 19/23 of 23 March 2012, the Forum on Minority Issues provides a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as well as thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Mr. Fernand de Varennes. The Forum identifies and analyses best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The Forum meets annually for two days, on a different theme each year. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues is responsible for guiding the work of the Forum, preparing its annual meetings and reporting on its thematic recommendations to the Human Rights Council. The fourteenth session of the Forum took place on 2 and 3 December 2021. Due to the COVID19 situation, the Forum was held in a hybrid format, in person and virtually, having the plenary sessions webcasted from the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Victoria Donda was appointed as Chair of the session, which focused on the theme: "Conflict Prevention and the Protection of the Human Rights of Minorities’’. About 680 participants from some 50 countries registered for the session, including representatives of States, United Nations mechanisms, specialized agencies, other intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations and mechanism in the field of human rights, national human rights institutions, academics and experts on minority issues, representatives of minorities, non-governmental organisations and human rights defenders. Interpretation in six official UN languages as well as international sign language was provided during the Forum. Captioning in English, French and Spanish was also provided. The Concept Note, the Agenda of the Forum and the Programme of Work were made available to all Forum participants in advance of the Forum on the webpage of the Fourteenth session of the Forum1, and formed the basis for the discussions. 1 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Minority/Pages/Session14.aspx