A/79/169 public” 9 or “the right to establish and maintain their own associations”, 10 whereas most others require specific actions to be taken by State authorities in order for those rights to be realized. This is also clearly recognized in article 1 of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and L inguistic Minorities, which reads: “States shall adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends.” 11 And when adopting such measures, “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.” 12 IV. Purposes of the effective participation of persons belonging to minorities in decision-making processes 15. The purpose of this requirement of effective participation is threefold. First, it should allow persons belonging to minorities to preserve and promote their identity in the public sphere, as required under article 1 of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. Second, effective participation in the decision-making process is aimed at ensuring that the measures adopted that affect the rights or interests of persons belonging to a minority group are in line with their preferences and have no discriminatory effects. 13 Third, it will empower persons belonging to minorities to effectively contribute to the development of society as a whole, in particular by effectively participating in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life 14 but also by providing, through their effective participation, a representation of diverse interests and preferences in complex and composite societies that constitute the substrate of most existing States in 2024. A. Preserving and promoting minorities’ identity in the public sphere 16. It would be absurd to ask the dominant group – the majority – to define and promote the identity of persons belonging to different minority groups. In article 1 of the Declaration, States are asked not only to protect the existence of national or ethni c, cultural, religious and linguistic minorities but also to “encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity”. In the same article, a link is clearly established between the existence of minorities and their capacity to promote their identity. Mor eover, under article 1, paragraph 2, States are even required to “adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends”. This appears to be a novel type of positive obligation for States: to offer “conditions” allowing persons belonging t o minorities to promote their common identity. In contributions received following the call for input, 15 several submitters underlined that, to allow effective participation, such conditions also needed to include measures of empowerment of the members of the minority group. The conditions are also related, beyond specific provisions, to the distribution of competences within each State, in particular in fields such as culture, __________________ 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 24-13136 General Assembly resolution 47/135, annex, art. 2, para. 1. Ibid., para. 4. Ibid., art. 1, para. 2. Ibid., art. 2, para. 3. This requirement should cover both aspects of legal discrimination, i.e. no discrimination before the law and no discrimination within the law. This double aspect is specifically set forth in article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which reads: “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law.” General Assembly resolution 47/135, annex, art. 2, para. 2. See www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2024/call-input-report-special-rapporteur-minority-issuesun-general-assembly. 7/20