A/HRC/FMI/2012/2 to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including at the regional level. 6. The Forum offers a unique opportunity for engagement and dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders, including States Members of the United Nations, bodies and specialized agencies of the Organization, intergovernmental and regional organizations, and minority representatives and civil society on minority issues, and represents an opportunity for them to exchange experiences. III. Aims and objectives of the fifth session of the Forum on Minority Issues 7. The fifth session of the Forum will focus on the experiences of diverse stakeholders who have used the Declaration in the course of their work at the national, regional and international levels. Participants, including minorities themselves, will highlight their experiences and demonstrate how they have used the Declaration in practice, as well as provide their perspectives on what more needs to be done to implement the Declaration nationally. 8. A set of recommendations will be presented to the twenty-second session of the Human Rights Council. IV. Legal framework 9. The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities was adopted by consensus in 1992 and establishes in broad terms the rights of minorities and the obligations upon States. Such obligations upon States to implement the Declaration and protect and promote minority rights thereunder require positive measures to be taken in the areas of legislation, policy and programming. 10. Article 1, paragraph 1, requires that “States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity”. Article 1, paragraph 2, requires that “States shall adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends”. Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Declaration requires that “States shall take measures where required to ensure that persons belonging to minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law”. Furthermore article 4, paragraph 2, calls upon them to “take measures to create favourable conditions to enable persons belonging to minorities to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs, except where specific practices are in violation of national law and contrary to international standards”. Article 5 of the Declaration establishes that “national policies and programmes shall be planned and implemented with due regard for the legitimate interests of persons belonging to minorities”. V. Participants and issues for consideration 11. The Forum will focus on practices relative to implementing the Declaration. The experiences and perspectives of various stakeholders will therefore be sought, including the following. 3