in consultation with those most affected, to ensure equal and effective protection of
the property and other rights of national minorities in development and infrastructure
initiatives, including the exploitation of local resources, land and property.
28. Regions where national minorities are concentrated should receive
appropriate funding in terms of infrastructure, such as electricity,
communications networks, roads, water management and transport
services, to enable persons belonging to national minorities to
effectively participate equally and without discrimination in social and
economic activities.
Regional inequalities can manifest themselves in poor quality or no access to
power, communications infrastructure (including the infrastructure that supports
digital communications), road and transport services. These deficiencies in
turn may isolate, effectively exclude or seriously disadvantage minorities and
populations concentrated in these regions and significantly hamper their degree
of social and economic participation; for example, by making it difficult to travel
for work purposes or efficiently conduct business activities. Persons belonging
to national minorities in certain regions may lack reliable or high-speed internet
connections to ensure their equal digital inclusion in society, undertake financial
transactions or use digital communication tools as effectively as others who live
in more well-serviced regions.155
Full and effective equality for persons belonging to national minorities requires
funding to be provided as needed and in consultation with minorities, as well as
other measures to address past or continuing obstacles to social and economic
participation presented by infrastructure deficiencies or inadequacies in regions
where minorities are concentrated.
State investment in improvements to the infrastructure in regions where national
minorities are concentrated can help minorities to participate in social and economic
life on an equal footing, better connect these regions to the rest of the country,
create new economic opportunities and contribute to overall development efforts
that will ultimately benefit the whole of society.
155 See also Recommendations 22–24 in this document.
58
Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life