The term “national minority”, as used in the Recommendations, refers to a wide range of persons belonging to national minorities, including ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural communities, regardless of whether these groups are recognized as such by the States where they reside and irrespective of the designation applied to or claimed by them. In addition, “national minority” or “minority” is often used as a shorthand term for “persons belonging to national minorities”. This does not imply that all principles, minority rights and policy options presented in the document apply to every situation in the same way. Although it is clear that basic human rights standards apply to all, policies will need to be tailored to some extent to meet the challenges and needs of different minorities and different circumstances in order to ensure that the exercise of those rights is effective in practice. The content of policies related to social and economic affairs may depend on such factors as the numerical size of the national minority and its geographical concentration and location. Policymakers may also consider whether the minorities have their own language, the extent of their inclusion in society, whether they have strong ties with other countries, and their particular social, economic and cultural needs, among other considerations. The present Recommendations are based on concrete provisions in, and contemporary and forward-looking interpretations of, international and European human rights and policy standards with regard to social and economic inclusion and participation. Some of the instruments are legally binding on all or some OSCE participating States, whereas others have a political character, which means that they are primarily of referential, persuasive or inspirational value. The overall range of international standards drawn on in the Explanatory Note seeks to be representative rather than exhaustive. The Guidelines not only follow those standards, but necessarily also build on them. At this point it should also be noted that, while these Recommendations benefitted from the input and advice of an extensive multidisciplinary team of experts, the Recommendations themselves are grounded in the specific experiences of the HCNM and do not reflect the views of any single expert. The institution of the HCNM is grateful to all HCNM staff members, past and present, as well as a number of external experts and practitioners for this latest addition to its ongoing series of thematic Recommendations and Guidelines. Special recognition is deserved by Jennifer Croft, Andreea Cârstocea, Fernand de Varennes, Jennifer Jackson-Preece and William Romans, who, as the key drafters, have significantly contributed to the creation and arrangement of the 31 Recommendations and their accompanying Explanatory Note. Jennifer Croft in particular is to be commended for her exceptional work on compiling, collating and cross-referencing the various research 8 Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life