The right to equality and the prohibition of discrimination are relevant when considering the availability of essential public services in minority languages as a potential barrier or powerful booster to a national minority’s full human development and their social and economic participation.101 In particular, the unavailability of public services in minority languages in situations where minorities are present in significant numbers could be discriminatory and impede the equal social and economic participation of minorities, including in regard to employment and other opportunities associated with public service provision. To promote equality and non-discrimination, and depending on specific circumstances, including where minorities are present in significant numbers and have expressed a need, they should have access to public services in their own language wherever possible, especially in the case of health and social services, which affect the quality of peoples’ lives in an immediate and fundamental manner.102 The use of minority languages in the provision of public goods and services can promote inclusion, help accommodate the needs and interests of minorities,103 and may enhance the ability of providers to function and communicate more effectively. An environment or institutional culture that is respectful of the agency and identity of persons belonging to national minorities should ensure that not only language but also other aspects of their identity, such as gender, disability status or age, pose no obstacles in their fair and proportionate access to essential public goods and services. States should avoid undue language requirements for access to public services and should make information and advice on public services easily accessible and available, and in minority languages when the services in question are of significant importance for affected minorities.104 Civil service staff and others employed in the provision of public goods and services should be provided with training, as needed, so that they can appropriately and effectively respond to the linguistic and cultural needs of persons belonging to national minorities. States should also make efforts to enhance the level of representation and employment of speakers of minority languages among public service providers. 101 UN Development Programme (UNDP) Marginalized Minorities in Development Programming: A UNDP resource Guide and Toolkit (New York: UN Development Programme, 2010); and OHCHR, Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for minorities: A review of MDG country reports and poverty reduction strategies (UN Doc. A/HRC/4/9/Add.1 and Corr.1). 102 Oslo Recommendations, Recommendation 14 and p. 27. 103 Ljubljana Guidelines, Guideline 42. 104 FCNM AC, Commentary on Language, paragraph 88. 42 Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life