rights, and even pre-dating the idea of “minorities”. He explained that the character of contemporary conflicts remains substantially similar to the past with competitions for power, clashes of wills in relation to needs, interests and aspirations, a range of grievances and other recurrent issues – like non-discrimination and equality of treatment and opportunity, maintenance and development of identity, forms and degrees of self-governance, and ultimately the power to live freely with a measure of control over one’s life. He noted an increasing trend of dominant groups targeting and scapegoating minorities. Mr. Packer indicated that systematic or systemic oppression or exclusion of minorities generates conflict, as does unrestrained abuse by dominant communities or the State. He explained that the problem is a failure of political will to do the right thing – to apply the norms and standards and to mobilise the required resources. Mr. Packer concluded by offering three suggestions: First: Minority rights should be widely promoted and, to this end, a Decade on the Issues and Rights of Minorities should be adopted by the UN coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Minorities. Second: Knowledge and know-how regarding minority issues and rights should be pro-actively mainstreamed within and throughout the United Nations system, and promoted similarly amongst and within regional and other intergovernmental organisations. Third: Minority experts should be employed as analysts and advisers and deployed within every United Nations peace operation and special political mission. Ms. Rita Manchanda, Independent Consultant, South Asia Forum for Human Rights focused her presentation on the South Asian region, and noted challenges in the contemporary context of ethno- religious nationalism which has reinforced structural marginalisation of minority communities. She stated that practices of religious discrimination, prejudice and persecution have been formalised into state laws and policy. She further noted the explicit targeting of minority communities through stigmatization, persecution, violent assaults, and the spread of anti-minority hate speech. Ms. Manchanda expressed concern about the stifling of independent civil society, journalists and lawyers with a disproportionate impact on marginalized communities. Among root causes she listed internal power-seeking politics through manipulation of religion and politics, inter-state conflicts in which the majority in one state is a minority in another, and trans-regional competitive ethno-religious nationalism. She stressed the importance of supporting and protecting the production and dissemination of counter-narratives, in a repressive environment where critical fact dissent and fact finding is criminalized. Ms. Manchanda further recommended strengthening the rule of law and institutions necessary for protection of minority rights and countering impunity, and to document the abusive practice, and to situate minority rights claims within the broad-based struggle for constitutional values and equal rights of citizens. 7