A/65/287 5. The thematic reports include analysis of global minority issues and provide recommendations to States and others. In 2006, the independent expert presented a thematic study to the Human Rights Council, which focused attention on minorities in the context of poverty alleviation and poverty reduction strategies and the Millennium Development Goals. In 2007, she undertook thematic research and held a seminar on the global issue of minorities and discriminatory denial or deprivation of citizenship, and in 2008 presented a thematic report and recommendations on this issue to the Human Rights Council. 6. By resolution 6/15 of 28 September 2007, the Human Rights Council created the Forum on Minority Issues. Since 2008 the Forum has provided an important platform for minorities and the discussion of minority issues. The independent expert is required to guide the sessions of the Forum, prepare its annual meetings and make recommendations to the Human Rights Council for thematic subjects to be considered by the Forum. In December 2008, the inaugural Forum on Minority Issues considered minorities and the right to education (A/HRC/10/11/Add.1). In November 2009 the second annual session of the Forum considered minorities and effective political participation (A/HRC/13/25). The third annual session of the Forum will take place on 14 and 15 December 2010 and will be dedicated to the issue of minorities and effective participation in economic life. The Forum seeks to provide concrete and tangible outcomes in the form of thematic recommendations of practical value to all stakeholders. The independent expert reports to the Human Rights Council on the recommendations emerging from the Forum. 7. In accordance with the mandate of the General Assembly to promote stability, security and peaceful relations between States, the theme of the present report is the role of minority rights protection in conflict prevention. Among the essential elements of a strategy to prevent conflicts involving minorities are respect for minority rights; dialogue between minorities and majorities within societies; and the constructive development of practices and institutional arrangements to accommodate diversity within society. 8. The present report will focus on how attention to minority rights violations at an early stage — before they lead to tensions and violence — would make an invaluable contribution to the culture of prevention within the United Nations, save countless lives and promote stability and development. 9. The history of the development of minority rights at the United Nations has been closely linked to the need to address tensions between minorities and the State, and between population groups. The Declaration, which establishes the mandate of the independent expert, states in its preamble that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities contribute to the political and social stability of States in which they live. The drafting of the Declaration began in 1978, and received added impetus with the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Those events led to concerns that tensions between the many ethnic and religious communities in those entities would erupt and result in long-running wars. They also inspired efforts to develop standards and mechanisms on minority rights in the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). 10. By resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The importance attached to it was summed up by the 4 10-48298