Other relevant bodies in the United Nations system 85 Human rights complaints procedure Most of the work of UNESCO in the field of human rights is promotional rather than protective, but since 1978 it has had a procedure for the examination of communications (complaints) concerning alleged violations of human rights.93 The procedure is confidential and extends only to human rights violations within its fields of competence, namely education, science, culture and information. Many minority concerns are directly related to issues of language, culture and education, and it should be relatively easy to demonstrate that such issues fall within the jurisdiction of UNESCO. Individuals, groups of individuals and NGOs may submit communications to UNESCO concerning violations of human rights, whether they are themselves victims or whether they only have “reliable knowledge” of such violations. In theory, a communication may be filed against any State; in practice, communications will be considered against any State that is a member of UNESCO. Communications should be sent to: Director of the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs UNESCO 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 France An initial letter (which must be drafted in one of the working languages of UNESCO, English or French) should contain a concise statement of the allegations. On its receipt, the UNESCO Secretariat will send the author of the letter a form to be filled in, which constitutes the formal communication and will be transmitted to the State concerned. A copy of the form may be completed and attached to the initial letter. Communications are examined in private by the Committee on Conventions and Recommendations of the Executive Board, which is composed of Government representatives and generally meets twice each year. In examining the communication, the Committee invites the State concerned to provide information or answer questions on either the admissibility or the merits of the communication. Since the Committee is not an international tribunal, it tries to resolve the problem in a spirit of cooperation, dialogue and mutual understanding. Its goal is to achieve a mutually satisfactory settlement, not simply to decide whether or not a violation has occurred. The Committee submits a confidential report to the Executive Board on each communication considered, including any decisions or recommendations it may make; the author of the communication and the State concerned are also informed of the Committee’s decisions. The Director-General of UNESCO has long enjoyed a right of intercession vested in him or her by the General Conference.94 It is thus possible for the Director-General personally to make humanitarian representations on behalf of persons who have allegedly been victims of human rights violations within the fields of competence of UNESCO and whose cases call for urgent consideration.95 104 EX/Decision 3.3. See http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27969&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_ SECTION=201.html (accessed 3 December 2012). 93 See in particular 19C/Resolution 12.1. 94 Paragraphs 8 and 9 of 104 EX/Decision 3.3 recognize the role played by the Director-General in this regard (see footnote 100). 95