5. States should ensure that national minorities have an equal and effective opportunity to participate in decision-making regarding social and economic affairs policies, which must respect their existing rights, and their participation should substantially inform the design and outcome of the policies. 6. Specific arrangements to promote the social and economic participation of persons belonging to national minorities should be designed with an intersectional approach that recognizes the multiple and overlapping identities of individuals within minority communities. In particular, women, youth, the elderly and persons with disabilities from national minority backgrounds must be considered in any measures aimed at supporting the social and economic participation of national minority groups. 7. States should address barriers to full and effective social and economic participation caused by the inability to demonstrate or acquire a citizenship. This should include taking all available measures to end statelessness, such as ensuring that no child is born stateless, implementing proper birth registration, ensuring equal access to documentation, and removing any ethnic, religious, linguistic or gender discrimination from citizenship laws. II. Policies, Processes and Institutions 8. State authorities should institute policies to reduce inequalities affecting persons belonging to national minorities. These can include targeted policies directly benefitting persons belonging to national minorities; general policies benefitting the entire population in areas also inhabited by national minorities; or integration policies promoting co-operation between persons belonging to majorities and minorities. States should initiate and maintain a regular collection and analysis of data, allowing for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of evidence-based policies. 9. State authorities should prioritize specific measures to improve the standard of living of persons belonging to national minorities, with the aim of reducing existing inequalities between and within communities. Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life 11

Select target paragraph3