Madam President, Mr. Special Rapporteur, Your Excellencies and all attendees, My name is Nuha Grine and I am a previous fellow at the Minority Fellowship Programme and head of the Unity Society, or as we call it in our Amazighi language, Tamont. The Amazigh are the original inhabitants of North Africa and are among the linguistic and religious minorities. In my country Tunis, the Amazigh are considered a minority with a distinct culture and this classification makes them one of the most socially and economically marginalised groups. On the national level, the Amazigh suffer from the issue of recognising their language and therefore participating in public life because language is a bridge to enjoying all the rights listed in international instruments since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We cannot talk about exercising freedoms or social integration without at least recognising language as a conduit of social, political or cultural relations, and based upon which every individual or group is treated equally. Their status may be similar to that of most other minorities in the world because international law does not have a clear and agreed-upon definition of the term minority. This does not motivate countries to recognise their minorities. Also, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not refer to the term minority explicitly, but its articles include many provisions directly related to minority rights, especially religious freedom and equality. Although the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the only global instrument that exclusively deals with minority rights, emphasizes the rights stipulated in the United Nations human rights framework, builds on them and focuses on protecting and promoting the existence, equality, identity and the effective participation of minorities in all areas covered by the Declaration, its contribution to achieving progress in protecting minority rights at the global level has remained modest, as was acknowledged by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the anniversary of the Declaration. Accordingly, special attention should be given to how to integrate equal respect for the human rights of minorities into all areas of the United Nations’ work. However, we find that there is a large gap in the protection of minorities, which needs to be addressed in the context of parallel normative changes in the United Nations if minorities themselves participate as active and equal elements in its development. In contrast, indigenous peoples were a key element in the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples and the new Permanent Forum is expected to allow people of African descent to directly participate in the development of a new declaration dedicated to people of African descent.