A/HRC/4/109 page 5 country, led to their being taken more seriously, helped them establish links with other minority NGOs, helped with their advocacy work domestically and increased their own confidence in non-violent channels to express their grievances. Thematic advice 16. The Working Group on Minorities, with its broad five-member composition representing the different regions of the world, has contributed to a better understanding of the variety of minority situations globally and given added recognition to activities on minority issues. 17. The implementation of the rights contained in the Minorities Declaration has highlighted the need not only to understand and redress inequality but also to accommodate difference and diversity. Best and good practices for managing diversity and supporting the integration of minorities in the life of the country in which they live have been the focus of papers prepared or solicited by OHCHR or submitted by minority experts to the Working Group. (Papers prepared for the Working Group are available on the OHCHR website.) Such efforts have aimed at achieving a balance between the demands of integration and the need to respect different cultural, religious and linguistic identities. 18. Expert papers on thematic minority issues considered at the Working Group have placed particular emphasis on measures to develop intercultural education, mainstream minority rights in programmes and strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and facilitate the participation of minorities in public life. Thus, consideration has been given to lessons learned and practical policy measures aimed at achieving the effective participation of minority representatives through the establishment of advisory and consultative bodies on issues of particular concern to minorities, cultural and regional forms of autonomy, as well as affirmative action measures to support access to public services and public office. 19. Minority representatives have raised in the Working Group concerns about their treatment by police and security forces and about discrimination in the criminal justice system, and have discussed the importance of greater integration of members of minorities in the agencies responsible for law and order and criminal justice. With a view to offering guidance for technical assistance, and pursuant to paragraph 74 (a) of the Durban Programme of Action, which “[u]rges States and invites non-governmental organizations and the private sector … [t]o create and implement policies that promote a high-quality and diverse police force free from racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and recruit actively all groups, including minorities, into public employment, including the police force and other agencies within the criminal justice system (such as prosecutors)”, OHCHR commissioned a paper for discussion with Governments and other partners on “integration with diversity in policing, security and criminal justice”. The paper (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2006/WP.1), submitted to the Working Group at its twelfth session, aims to provide practical guidance and examples of good practices to assist Governments, United Nations officials, NGOs and others in ensuring that agencies of the criminal justice system and law enforcement agencies are representative of, responsive to and accountable to the community as a whole. 20. Tools for better understanding the provisions and principles contained in the Minorities Declaration and related human rights standards have been prepared, submitted or considered under the aegis of the Working Group on Minorities. Particular mention should be made