A/73/205 I. Introduction 1. In the present report, submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 72/184 and Human Rights Council resolution 25/5, the Special Rapporteur provides, in section II, a brief overview of his activities before, in section III, focusing on why the vast majority of the world’s stateless persons are those belonging to minorities; the legislation, policies and practices that contribute to extreme vulnerability; and how persons belonging to minorities are disproportionally affected by a lack of citizenship. He considers how this situation relates to international human rights standards and provides suggestions for addressing it. The final section contains preliminary conclusions and recommendations. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2. A summary of the activities of the Special Rapporteur (and of the previous holder of the mandate, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, from January to July 2017) is available in his report submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-seventh session (A/HRC/37/66, paras. 7–30) and in the bulletin published on his website every six months, which provides a summary of activities, including communications, 1 press statements, public appearances, country visits and thematic reports. 2 A. Country missions during 2018 Slovenia 3. The Special Rapporteur undertook an official mission to Slovenia from 5 to 13 April to gather first-hand information on human rights issues involving minorities in the country. He noted the country’s strong commitment to and tradition of human rights recognition and protection and commended it for its long -standing and positive measures in relation to minorities, such as the Hungarian and Italian communities. He recommended, however, that disaggregated data be collected so to have better and more effective policies and that the Government study how other countries colle cted, through national censuses, and analysed data disaggregated by ethnicity, religion or language while still being sensitive to and respecting privacy concerns. 4. He indicated that the national human rights system should be enhanced, given that it constituted the front line for the protection of society’s most vulnerable and marginalized populations, including minorities. In that regard, he noted that adopting multi-year funding formulas for both the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Advocate of the Principle of Equality would be useful in promoting respect for human rights and tolerance for diversity and in raising awareness with a focus on Roma, minorities and migrants. He also suggested that a review of legislation for both the Ombudsman and the Advocate would remove ambiguities and inconsistencies and could provide for more effective legal remedies for victims of discrimination and other human rights violations. 5. He noted that additional changes were needed in various areas to address the particular vulnerability and marginalization of the Roma community, including removing the distinction in legislation and other measures between “autochthonous” and “non-autochthonous” Roma communities and adopting new legislation to include specific measures in the fields of education and social services to specifically and directly tackle instances of ongoing discrimination and the regularization of Roma __________________ 1 2 18-12048 See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/CommunicationsreportsSP.aspx. See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/SRMinorities/Pages/SRminorityissuesIndex.aspx. 3/19