156 PROMOTING AND PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS the United Nations Declaration on Minorities because it has a much wider scope than “national minorities”. As the Declaration is inspired by article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it may be assumed that the Declaration has at least as wide a scope as that article. In conformity with article 2 of the Covenant, States parties are under an obligation to respect and ensure the application of article 27 to everyone within its territory and under its jurisdiction, whether the person - or group of persons - are citizens of the  country or not. This is also the view expressed by the Human Rights Committee in paragraphs 5.1 and 5.2 of its general comment No. 23 (fiftieth session, 1994). Persons who are not (yet) citizens of the country in which they reside can form part of or belong to a minority in that country. 10. While citizenship as such should not be a distinguishing criterion that excludes some persons or groups from enjoying minority rights under the Declaration, other factors can be relevant in distinguishing between the rights that can be demanded by different minorities. Those who live compactly together in a part of the State territory may be entitled to rights regarding the use of language, and street and place names which are different from those who are dispersed, and may in some circumstances be entitled to some kind of autonomy. Those who have been established for a long time on the territory may have stronger rights than those who have recently arrived. 11. The best approach appears to be to avoid making an absolute distinction between “new” and “old” minorities by excluding the former and including the latter, but to recognize that in the application of the Declaration the “old” minorities have stronger entitlements than the “new”. 12. The word “minority” can sometimes be misleading in itself. Outside Europe, and particularly in Africa, countries are often composed of a large number of groups, none of which make up a majority. 13. The relevant factors differ significantly between States. What is required is to ensure appropriate rights for members of all groups and to develop good governance in heterogeneous societies. By good governance is here understood legal, administrative and territorial arrangements which allow for peaceful and constructive group accommodation based on equality in dignity and rights for all and which allows for the necessary pluralism to enable the persons belonging to the different groups to preserve and develop their identity. 14. The Declaration sets out rights of persons belonging to minorities mainly in article 2 and spells out the duties of the States in which they exist in articles 1, 4 and 5. While the rights are consistently set out as rights of individuals, the duties of States are in part formulated as duties towards minorities as groups. This is most clearly expressed in article 1 (see below). While only individuals can claim the rights, the State cannot fully implement them without ensuring adequate conditions for the existence and identity of the group as a whole. 15. The rights of persons belonging to minorities differ from the rights of peoples to self‑determination. The rights of persons belonging to minorities are individual rights, even if they in most cases can only be enjoyed in community with others. The rights of peoples, on the other hand, are collective rights. While the right of peoples to self-determination is well established under international law, in particular by common article 1 of the two International Covenants on Human Rights, it does not apply to persons belonging to minorities. This does not exclude the possibility that persons belonging to an ethnic or national group may in some contexts legitimately make claims based on minority rights and, in another context, when acting as a group, can make claims based on the right of a people to self-determination. 16. Within the United Nations and also within the Organization of American States, a distinction is drawn between the rights of persons belonging to minorities and those of indigenous peoples. The latter have particular concerns which are not properly addressed in the Declaration