A/65/287 the status of a New York presence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, now headed by an Assistant Secretary-General, and regular briefings to the Security Council by the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 79. Reflecting on the experience of regional intergovermental organizations, including OSCE, the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, established in 2003 to consider how the United Nations should address newly arising security, environmental and developmental challenges, recommended that the United Nations build on the experience of regional organizations in developing frameworks for minority rights (A/59/565, para. 94). B. Regional organizations 80. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has established a specific mechanism to address conflicts involving minorities, the High Commissioner on National Minorities. 23 The mandate is informed by the minority rights provisions contained in the Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (29 June 1990). 24 The High Commissioner acts as an early warning and early action mechanism, primarily through the use of preventive diplomacy. The High Commissioner can visit countries where tensions have arisen between a minority and the State and engage with representatives of both sides. The High Commissioner uses a problem-solving approach to break down the externally voiced positions into an analysis of needs, interests and aspirations, and propose constructive solutions based on a broad knowledge of approaches worldwide. 81. The High Commissioner has developed a number of guidelines to help national and international actors to address issues that have a potential to cause conflict, including education, language rights, political participation and the involvement of “kin States” (States whose majority community is ethnically related to a minority in a neighbouring State). 82. Preventive diplomacy can be most effective when tensions first arise between a Government and a minority, and they are relatively susceptible to third party engagement. Envoys may work discreetly, as the situation is not yet in the glare of national or international media. Parties may be willing to calmly present their concerns, and to explore possible solutions. When a situation develops from these initial tensions to actual incidences of violence, positions begin to harden and resistance to compromise grows. It becomes more difficult for leaders to make compromises as the depth of feeling and emotion among their constituencies increases. 83. As an illustrative example, in the late 1990s the High Commissioner monitored the situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and became very concerned about grievances of the ethnic Albanian population, particularly with respect to access to Albanian-language university-level education and other language rights, as well as the right to run their own media outlets and political participation. He issued an early warning within OSCE and also took a project- __________________ 23 24 10-48298 Available from http://www.osce.org/hcnm/13022.html. http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2006/06/19392_en.pdf. 19