LABOUR RIGHTS Increased efforts are also required to develop participatory approaches to minority protection in employment. Special attention should be paid to multiple discrimination against minority women. Discrimination against minorities is often linked to racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, so the ILO promotes training and awareness-raising for greater tolerance and respect within societies. Case study – Teaching Romanian and minority languages In addition to the Committee of Experts which is charged with regular supervision of ILO Standards, the bodies set up under the ILO’s special procedures have also frequently dealt with situations of specific minorities. A landmark case concerning Romania led to the adoption, in 1991, of a report of the Commission of Inquiry set up under Article 26 of the ILO Constitution to examine the observance of Convention No. 111. The report contains important indications concerning the applicability of Convention No. 111 to the situation of minorities and the obligations of state parties in this context. The Commission of Inquiry found that the government should dismantle all instruments of the policy of assimilation and discrimination, and that it should adopt a language policy that would meet the cultural and economic needs of minorities, including through an appropriate balance in the teaching of Romanian and minority languages so that all citizens master the Romanian language, while enabling minorities to engage in trades and professions using their own language. The Commission also decided that the situation of the Roma should be improved by means of an integrated programme drawn up in collaboration with their representatives, covering education, employment, housing, and other elements necessary to their progress. The Committee of Experts continues to follow Romania’s progress in improving the situation of Roma in the labour market. Notes 1 The ILO uses the term ‘indigenous and tribal’ instead of ‘indigenous’ alone as the UN does. This indicates that the issue being addressed is not chronological priority in a given area – who got there first – but rather a particular form of social organization. 2 ILO, Decent Work, Report of the Director-General to the 87th session of the International Labour Conference, 1999. 3 4 Declaration of Philadelphia, Article II.a – added to the ILO Constitution in 1946. For more details on these features of Convention No. 111 see ILO, ‘Equality in Employment and Occupation’, General Survey by the Committee of Experts, 75th session of the International Labour Conference, 1988. 5 An example of indirect discrimination would be a requirement that all police wear 79