A/HRC/16/29 between the conflicting forces of their desire for convenience and to effect social change and language rights. V. The International Labour Organization: A Handbook for Minorities and Indigenous Peoples (2002) 22. This Handbook provides an insider’s view of how the International Labour Organization (ILO) works. It explains how ILO can be used by non-governmental organizations and others to promote and protect minority and indigenous people’s rights. It offers practical advice and case studies as well as step-by-step guidance on working with ILO, how to influence its agenda, and how to work with bodies such as trade unions to further minority and indigenous people’s concerns. VI. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: First Language First (2005) 23. First Language First: Community-based Literacy Programmes for Minority Language Contexts in Asia deals with education programmes that use learners’ “first language first” as a medium of instruction, for adults as well as children, in various Asian contexts. It is divided into two parts: 24. Part I addresses the planning and implementing of a sustainable multilingual literacy programme. It highlights experiences from nine countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, focusing on community mobilization, identification of learning needs, development of minority language writing systems, development of curriculum and materials, training of facilitators, strategies/tools for evaluation, strategies for Government policy and sustainability. The study highlights the important role language plays in learning. “First language first” education programmes use the learners’ first language for teaching beginning literacy and initial curriculum content, then gradually introduce the second language, usually a national language, as another medium of instruction. Programmes such as these have also been called “mother tongue first bilingual education” or “mother tongue-based bilingual education.” 25. Part II contains resource papers and examples of good practice from countries participating in the project. It includes papers written by linguists and descriptions of best practices in mother-tongue literacy from five countries in the region. This publication is directed to policymakers, planners and practitioners in planning and organizing quality literacy programmes for members of minorities 26. The objective of UNESCO through this study is to promote mother tongue instruction and bilingual/multilingual education and to improve the quality of education, especially for disadvantaged groups, and to promote cultural and linguistic diversity in societies. VII. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe: Challenges in measuring gender and minorities (2007) (ESA/STAT/AC.140/2.3) 27. “Challenges in measuring gender and minorities” presents an overview of practices adopted to define and measure minority populations in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe region in the past and highlights the operational challenges in 7