Minority rights focus in the United Nations iii Foreword I am delighted that this publication, Promoting and Protecting Minority Rights: A Guide for Minority Rights Advocates, comes before you as we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. This anniversary gives us the opportunity to look back on the 20 years of promoting the Declaration and use that experience to plan and strategize for the future, to decide how best to bring this Declaration further to the fore of human rights discussions taking place all over the world and discuss its implementation. It is our hope that the Guide will be a true vade mecum, assisting civil society to engage even more effectively in this important and immense task. Whether we are talking about democracy-building following the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East or ensuring human rights in the context of the global economic downturn; about sustainable development in the context of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio+20”) or about guaranteeing effective participation of minorities, including minority women and girls, in all spheres of life, worldwide; minority issues need to maintain their rightful place on the agendas of decision makers. In this anniversary year, my Office is increasing its engagement on minority rights even further. We are organizing a series of subregional and regional events to address most topical minority issues and we pursue a range of awareness-raising activities. We are taking the lead in the formation and coordination of the United Nations Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, a new platform aiming to enhance cooperation and dialogue on minorities across the United Nations system. All this is in addition to already established work on minority rights, which includes field-presence engagement on minority issues, capacity-building for minority rights activists through the Minorities Fellowship Programme, supporting the mandate of the Independent Expert on minority issues and the annual Forum on Minority Issues. Please visit our website to make sure you have all the latest information on these activities. It is our role as human rights defenders to ensure that the rights of national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are highlighted and taken into account. We hope that this Guide will prove to be a valuable tool for minority rights advocates, helping them place minority rights on the agenda, where this has not yet been done, or make sure they stay there and are adequately addressed. In the international, regional and national discussions framed by the “all human rights for all” principle, we must work together to make sure that minorities are not left out. Towards this end, the Guide explains, in a reader-friendly way, who are the main actors working on minority issues in the United Nations and in key regional organizations, and what are the best ways of engaging them. Minorities enrich the societies of each and every country in the world. Through working on guaranteeing their rights, our chief aims must be that no one will be afraid to self-identify as a member of a minority, fearing disadvantage will come out of that decision; that persons belonging to minorities will be guaranteed protection of their existence and identity; and that they will benefit from the principles of effective participation and non-discrimination. Let this publication guide us in working towards making this a reality for all persons belonging to minorities, everywhere. Navi Pillay United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights