A/56/258 representatives of the anglophone majority and the francophone and aboriginal minorities. 15. A number of recommendations aimed at strengthening and enhancing multicultural and intercultural education were adopted at the seminar. They included the need to reflect in educational curricula the history and culture of all groups within society and the participation of all groups in educational policy and programmes. The participants also referred to the need to teach the mother tongue, recruit teachers from minority communities and integrate intercultural education into mainstream programmes in the initial and continuing education of teachers. 16. Other recommendations for fostering awareness of minority cultures and combating racial discrimination through education and training are contained in the report of the Secretary-General on this issue to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (A/CONF.189/PC.1/11). The report refers to the role of the educational system in fostering a learning environment of cultures and respect for diversity in society. This could be achieved, inter alia, by offering education in the histories and cultures of both the majority and minority communities. Details are provided on inter-cultural education developed in Italy, as well as the educational policies in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay, where greater attention has been given to cultural and linguistic diversity, particularly for children belonging to indigenous populations. 17. With respect to the issue of the participation of minorities in public life, the Working Group supported a seminar organized by the European Centre for Minority Issues, in Flensberg, Germany, from 30 April to 2 May 1999. Experts at the meeting offered various proposals on promoting the effective participation of minorities in public life and in decisions affecting them. The participants at the seminar also noted that a variety of mechanisms existed to promote the participation of minorities, including proportional representation, guaranteed minority seats, provisions for reducing the percentage of votes needed for minorities to form a political party, minority legislative veto and administrative, advisory and consultative bodies for minorities. Preference for a particular system would depend on the specific situation and circumstances affecting each minority. Additionally, it was suggested that States should take steps to ensure equal access to public sector employment across the various ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural communities. 18. On the question of citizenship and electoral rights, the experts at the seminar suggested, on the one hand, that barriers to the acquisition of citizenship for members of minorities should be reduced and, on the other, that arrangements for the participation of noncitizens in public life should be developed. Other proposals referred to the need for decision makers at every level to consult and seek input from all those affected by their decisions and to look at the effects of the decentralization of power in improving the chances for minorities to exercise authority over matters affecting them. The participants also raised the matter of the provision for instruction in minority languages, as this was viewed as a precondition for political participation. Equally, States were requested by the expert participants to ensure that educational curricula reflected the culture of minorities and majorities and that minorities were involved in the development of educational curricula as well as in the formulation of educational policy. 19. The participation of persons belonging to minorities in public and political life was selected as the theme for focused discussion at the seventh session of the Working Group in May 2001. Particular attention was devoted to the question of integrative and autonomist approaches to minority protection. More than 15 papers were prepared for the discussion. Thus, there were papers covering the themes of integration, cultural autonomy and territorial democracy from a general as well as a regional and national perspective concerning situations in Africa, Asia and Eastern and Western Europe, including information on selected models of autonomy in the Russian Federation and Finland. Many of these papers are available on the OHCHR web site at http://www.unhchr.ch, including the Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life, adopted within the framework of the mandate of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 20. In the report of the Working Group on its seventh session (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/22), it is indicated that the debate on integration and autonomy had revealed the variety and complexity of the situations facing minorities in different parts of the world and that 5