services and paid parental leave. Such measures should also be open to other similarly disadvantaged youth and women in need of support. Higher unemployment rates among persons belonging to national minorities may be linked to living in economically disadvantaged regions that are geographically remote from the centres of economic activity. In consultation with minority communities, States should implement specific policies to promote the economic participation of persons belonging to minorities within such regions, such as infrastructure improvements or tax incentives.119 Where relevant, bilateral or cross border co-operation120 may be part of State efforts to boost employment in regions populated by national minorities. Persons belonging to national minorities should be recognized as key stakeholders in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of regional policies and projects likely to affect their employment situation.121 Adequate measures should be taken to raise awareness among national minorities about their employment rights, including through the dissemination of labour law standards and information to national minorities in a language and terms they can understand. The staff of bodies that enforce labour standards should be trained to address the needs of persons belonging to national minorities.122 States should also promote the recruitment, promotion and retention of persons belonging to national minorities in public bodies responsible for labour law and its enforcement, both at the national and local level.123 A gender perspective should be taken into account in all these efforts. 21. States should consider measures to regularize employment, which will positively impact both individual participants in informal labour markets and the general economy. Persons belonging to national minorities, including Roma, Sinti and Travellers, are often disproportionately represented within informal labour markets. Such circumstances may result from the difficulties that persons belonging to national 119 FCNM AC, Commentary on Participation, paragraph 42; and OHCHR, FMI Recommendations, third session, paragraph 30. 120 FCNM AC, Commentary on Participation, paragraph 43. 121 FCNM AC, Commentary on Participation, paragraph 45. 122 FCNM AC, Commentary on Participation, paragraph 34. 123 FCNM AC, Commentary on Participation, paragraph 41. 48 Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life