and self-governance for ethnic groups and minorities, informal governance systems enabled the government to maintain control over minority regions. He also stressed the reality of development-induced conflict, raising tensions when governments seek to implement development programmes using resources in minority regions without participation or consent. He noted the mutual benefits incurred by agricultural extension programmes and small business schemes, which connect minority entrepreneurs to national and international market opportunities, and encourage peaceful existence among communities. Ms Sara Sekkenes, Conflict Prevention Advisor at the United Nations Programme for Development, UNDP, remarked on the increasingly protracted nature of humanitarian crises, which entrench situations of vulnerability and can exacerbate situations of discrimination. She acknowledged that such complex challenges could only be addressed by strengthening the humanitarian-development-peace nexus as well as human rights. She welcomed the Sustainable Development Goals, which affirm that no one must be left behind and recall the need to address development imperatives also in crises settings, including public services, schooling, health, employment and meaningful participation in community life. She highlighted that this work is key to further the promotion and protection of human rights of minorities. Though it does not have a normative or monitoring human rights mandate, UNDP believes that as development actors, its role is to address the root causes of conflict and these are often connected to the enjoyment of basic an fundamental human rights. UNDP developed together with the OHCHR and Minority Rights Group International a Resource Guide and Toolkit on Marginalized minorities for use in development programming. Ms Erlendy Cuero Bravo, Vice-President of the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians, AFRODES, talked about the differential impact of the Colombian conflict on Afro-Colombians. She recounted her personal experience of the conflict as a child in rural Colombia, in which her father and several members of her family were killed and her family was subsequently displaced to urban areas. She highlighted that the statistical and cultural invisibility of minorities is an issue that needs to be addressed before humanitarian crises strike. Delayed inclusion of ethnic variables in the public census, racial discrimination entrenched in public institutions, and extraction of natural resources without regard to local communities, all had exacerbated the impact of the conflict on Afro-Colombians, deepening their situation of exclusion. Although laws and policies consistent with many international standards are in place in Colombia, financial and technical resources are lacking to ensure adequate implementation of these standards and the effective protection of minorities. Protecting women in conflict, particularly from sexual violence, should she said be made a top priority by establishing care protocols that recognize the particularities of Afro Colombian and indigenous women. Prevention programmes to protect children from consumption of drugs and from being recruited into armed groups and criminal gangs are also important. The adoption of programmes for personal, family and community development is a priority. Strengthening government institutions and the autonomy of communities are crucial to the protection and restoration of rights of minorities affected by a humanitarian crisis. 7