A/79/169 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Nicolas Levrat, submits the present report to the General Assembly pursuant to his mandate, as established in Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/79 and Human Rights Council resolution 52/5. In the report, he summarizes his activities between 2023 and 2024 since his appointment on 1 November 2023, and in the thematic part, he provides reflections and recommendations for improving institutional arrangements promoting the effective participation of minorities in diverse and inclusive societies in sections addressing: (a) reasons for examining State institutional arrangements with respect to minority issues; (b) purposes of the effective participation of persons belonging to minorities in decision-making processes, (c) minority issues beyond human rights; (d) underlying factors promoting minority-friendly institutional designs; (e) five ways to realize minority rights at the national level, with and without the effective participation of persons belonging to minorities; (f) effective participation of persons belonging to minorities through specific institutional design; (g) effective participation of persons belonging to minorities through common institutional design; (h) self-rule (autonomy); and (i) implementation of minority rights and policies. The final section contains preliminary conclusions and recommendations. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur in 2023 and 2024 2. The Special Rapporteur wishes to draw the attention of the General Assembly to the web page devoted to the mandate on minority issues, where general information is provided on the activities associated with the mandate, including communications, press statements, public appearances, country visits and thematic reports. 1 An overview of the activities of the former mandate holder, Fernand de Varennes, for the period from 1 January to 31 October 2023, as well as the activities of the current mandate holder for the period from November to December 2023, is provided in the report presented to the Human Rights Council at its fifty -fifth session (A/HRC/55/51). Following a three-month extension of his predecessor’s tenure by the Human Rights Council, the current Special Rapporteur’s mandate exceptionally began on 1 November 2023. 3. The Special Rapporteur has engaged in a number of activities to promote and raise awareness of the human rights of minorities since his appointment. These have included a mission to New York in June 2024, during which he met with representatives of several Member States from different regions, members of civil society and United Nations officials to advocate the mainstreaming of minority issues into the Summit for the Future and into A Pact for the Future. He also attended and spoke at dozens of conferences in person or online and contributed to various other awareness-raising activities such as seminars with minority fellows, students and young people, as well as media interviews. 4. From 15 to 18 February 2024, the Special Rapporteur was in Istanbul, Türkiye, for an event on preserving and reinforcing mother tongues in the country, hosted by Minority Rights Group Europe. On 20 March, the Special Rapporteur delivered a video message at a side event of the Commission on the Status of Women, hosted by the Coptic Solidarity network and the Jubilee Campaign. The focus of the even t was on filling the gaps in social protection systems for minority women. On 13 May 2024, he co-organized an event with the Permanent Representation of Malta to the United Nations on the theme “Building peace: minority youth in conflict prevention efforts and inclusive socioeconomic policies”. The event was aimed at bridging the existing __________________ 1 24-13136 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/SRMinorities/Pages/SRminorityissuesIndex.aspx . 3/20