A/79/169 agencies, funds and programmes, intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations and entities in the field of human rights, national human rights institutions and other relevant national bodies, minorities and non -governmental organizations, as well as academics and experts on minority issues. 10. The sixteenth session of the Forum was aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and was intended to work towards a future with no poverty and reduced inequality, and in which peace, justice and strong institutions prevail within cohesive societies. 2 The session was aimed at tackling the multiple challenges faced by minority communities worldwide, with a focus on strengthening their socioeconomic participation and ensuring equality and social inclusion. In March 2024, the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/55/70) were presented to Human Rights Council at its fifty-fifth session. III. Reasons for examining State institutional arrangements with respect to minority issues 11. There is no norm of general international law that defines minority rights, and as the International Court of Justice stated in 1975, “no rule of international law, in the view of the Court, requires the structure of a State to follow any particular pattern, as is evident from the diversity of the forms of State found in the world today ”. 3 In this context, States Members of the United Nations agree to take into account the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities as stipulated in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (General Assembly resolution 47/135, annex), adopted by consensus by the Assembly on 18 December 1992, when dealing with minority issues at the national level. As the Special Rapporteur describes in the present report, based on contributions received following a call for inputs and non-exhaustive but extensive research, many of these minority issues are societal issues involving structural components of national societies. The fate of minorities will therefore largely benefit or suffer from institutional arrangements at the national level, since it is at this level that the rights of persons belonging to minorities need to be materialized. Furthermore, it is stipulated in the Declaration that “persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in decisions on the national and, where appropriate, regional level concerning the minority to which they belong or the regions in which they live, in a manner not incompatible with national legislation”. The present report serves to examine how this requirement is fulfilled in 2024 and to propose guidelines for improving institutional arrangements promoting minorities’ effective participation in diverse and inclusive societies. 12. As regards international law, even specific provisions on minority rights found in multilateral treaties do not define the precise content of these rights. For instance, article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights reads: “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own re ligion, or to use their own language.” Article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is similarly phrased. 4 The “non-denial” of rights obviously does not constitute a __________________ 2 3 4 24-13136 See www.ohchr.org/en/events/forums/2023/sixteenth-session-forum-minority-issues. Western Sahara, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1975 , p. 12, at para. 94. “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enj oy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.” 5/20