Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities A/RES/68/172 23. Takes note with appreciation of the note by the Secretary-General on racial discrimination and protection of minorities providing guidance for the United Nations system on how to address racial discrimination and the protection of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and aimed at, inter alia, integrating their rights into the work of the United Nations system at the global, regional and country levels, including through coordination mechanisms; 24. Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue her efforts to improve coordination and cooperation among United Nations agencies, funds and programmes on activities related to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and to take the work of relevant regional organizations active in the field of human rights into account in her endeavours; 25. Calls upon the High Commissioner to continue to promote, within her mandate, the implementation of the Declaration, and to engage in a dialogue with Governments for that purpose and regularly update and disseminate widely the United Nations Guide for Minorities; 26. Invites the High Commissioner to continue to seek voluntary contributions to facilitate the effective participation of representatives of non-governmental organizations and persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, in particular those from developing countries, in minority-related activities organized by the United Nations, in particular the activities of its human rights bodies and of the Forum, and in doing so to give particular attention to ensuring the participation of young people and women; 27. Welcomes, in this regard, the decision of the Human Rights Council to establish a special fund for the participation of civil society and other relevant stakeholders in, inter alia, the Forum on Minority Issues, 13 aiming to facilitate the broadest possible participation of civil society representatives and other relevant stakeholders, with particular attention being paid to participants from least developed countries, and calls upon States to support the participation of civil society and other relevant stakeholders in the Forum on Minority Issues and, to that end, to make voluntary contributions to the special fund; 28. Invites the human rights treaty bodies, as well as special procedures of the Human Rights Council, to continue to give attention, within their respective mandates, to situations and rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and, in this regard, to take into consideration relevant recommendations of the Forum; 29. Reaffirms that the universal periodic review, as well as the United Nations human rights treaty bodies, constitute important mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in that regard calls upon States to effectively follow up on accepted universal periodic review recommendations related to the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and further encourages States parties to give serious consideration to the follow-up to treaty body recommendations on the matter; _______________ 13 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 53A (A/68/53/Add.1) chap. IV. 6/7