A/HRC/34/68 III. Recommendations to prevent crises and the disproportionate effect of crises on minorities Inclusion of minority issues in daily governance 22. As a key element of minority protection and good governance, States should implement fully and inclusively the provisions of the Declaration on Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, including through the adoption of national laws prohibiting discrimination and protecting the rights of minorities. 23. States should at all times include respect, protection and fulfilment of minority rights as essential elements in their daily governance and development programmes. This should serve to, inter alia, defuse potential tensions between the minority and the majority and among minority groups, prevent conflict and foster integrated, resilient and prepared minority communities that are not disadvantaged in relation to other groups in society, particularly when crises occur. 24. States should remove any provision in law or in practice that discriminates against any group on the grounds of their ethnicity or religion and which may render them vulnerable. This includes discriminatory national legislation and policies such as those resulting in the denial or deprivation of citizenship, since stateless minorities are disproportionately affected by humanitarian crises. 25. States should establish an institutional framework to ensure that attention is given to minority issues within relevant national bodies, including those dealing with humanitarian action. National human rights institutions can take on this role at the national level and monitor the efforts made by various relevant national bodies and enforce the implementation of policies through accountability mechanisms. Persons belonging to minorities should be represented on the staff of such institutions and United Nations and civil society should support such mechanisms with capacity-building and training. 26. National human rights or other institutions must take appropriate responsibility to ensure that the needs of minorities are properly assessed, including through data collection and analysis, and that targeted programmes are established to better assist minorities in the event of a humanitarian crisis. 27. Relevant data should be collected and responsibly managed according to international standards and disaggregated, where possible, by ethnicity, language, nationality status and religious affiliation, age and gender. Such data should be used in accordance with international standards to contribute to the development of better informed and more effective minority rights projects and programmes. Indicators relevant to minorities should serve as a basis for assessing compliance with the principles of nondiscrimination and equality, which in turn can help to identify potential conflicts at their earliest stages. 28. National human rights and other relevant institutions should ensure a targeted focus on minorities in situations of crisis when engaging in monitoring, analysis and reporting, as well as in the exercise of other functions. Such targeted attention is crucial in preventing crises as well as in providing a framework for the protection and non-discrimination of minorities in situations of crisis and in minimizing any disproportionate impact. 29. The Secretary-General should develop a comprehensive strategy to ensure a systematic approach to minority rights in all United Nations programming work, including and in particular in development and humanitarian relief work, further to the Guidance 6