United Nations A/RES/66/166 Distr.: General 10 April 2012 General Assembly Sixty-sixth session Agenda item 69 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2011 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/66/462/Add.2)] 66/166. Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992, by which it adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities annexed to that resolution, and bearing in mind article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1 as well as other relevant existing international standards and national legislation, Recalling also its subsequent resolutions on the effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, as well as Human Rights Council resolutions 6/15 of 28 September 2007, by which the Council established the Forum on Minority Issues, 2 16/6 of 24 March 2011 on the mandate of the Independent Expert on minority issues 3 and 18/3 of 29 September 2011 on the panel to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration, 4 Affirming that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and dialogue between these minorities and the rest of society, as well as the constructive and inclusive development of practices and institutional arrangements to accommodate diversity within societies, contribute to political and social stability and the prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts involving the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, Expressing concern at the frequency and severity of disputes and conflicts involving persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities _______________ 1 See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-third Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/63/53), chap. I, sect. A. 3 Ibid., Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/66/53), chap. II, sect. A. 4 Ibid., Supplement No. 53A and corrigendum (A/66/53/Add.1 and Corr.1), chap. II. 2 11-46878 *1146878* Please rec cle ♲