A/51/536 English Page 14 Mr. José Bengoa (Chile), Mr. Stanislav Chernichenko (Russian Federation), Mr. Asbjorn Eide (Norway) and Mr. Ahmed Khalil (Egypt). A number of observer States participated, as well as representatives of specialized agencies and intergovernmental organizations. The Working Group was well attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations, and scholars versed in the subject. The High Commissioner addressed the Working Group at the opening session. 50. The deliberations at the second session centred on the agenda and its annotations, contained in documents E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/1996/1 and Add.1 respectively, in accordance with the mandate of the Working Group as set out by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1995/24, namely, to review the promotion and practical realization of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities; examine possible solutions to problems involving minorities, including the promotion of mutual understanding between and among minorities and Governments; and recommend further measures, as appropriate, for the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. 51. The following essential recommendations were adopted by the Working Group: (1) In order to better review the promotion and practical realization of the Declaration, the Working Group decided to collect information on the constitutions and legislation of States in respect of the protection and promotion of the rights of minorities, and to commission the preparation of short studies on the content and scope of the core principles contained in the Declaration, including the formulation of specific and concrete recommendations for their application in different countries and regions of the world. (2) The Working Group decided to explore ways in which national, regional and international monitoring mechanisms could be established and strengthened, as a means to record the progress made in promoting and protecting the rights of persons belonging to minorities and identify the problems encountered. (3) The Working Group decided to focus on particular themes, such as multicultural education, the use of language, the enjoyment of culture, the role of the media, and the issue of minorities and territorial integrity; to that end, the Working Group decided to hold seminars to discuss some of those issues in greater depth and decided that more substantive information on the existence of national recourse and conciliation machineries be submitted, in particular on how such mechanisms have been established, how they function, and how successful they are. (4) The Working Group decided to increase its cooperation with the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the implementation of his programme on minorities, more specifically, to strengthen his preventive activities and enhance his responses to minority situations warranting urgent action. Furthermore, the relationship between the Working Group and the treaty bodies, the thematic rapporteurs and special /...