at the Istanbul World Humanitarian Summit to ensure due attention is paid to the needs of particularly vulnerable and at-risk groups as part of the call for greater collective responsibility for reducing risk and alleviating suffering in humanitarian emergencies. He stressed the importance of placing the protection of the rights of victims at the center of all humanitarian responses. The High Commissioner described the encouraging results of the Human Rights Up Front action plan, heightening the focus of UN protection and prevention in specific human rights crises, and of early warning initiatives, such as the deployment of a “light team” to places of particularly significant human rights concerns. At the same time, he acknowledged that the UN can and must do better, and he hoped the Forum would help to clarify the roles of all stakeholders during emergencies to ensure a coordinated and effective humanitarian response. He also called for stronger involvement of national human rights institutions in humanitarian structures and greater participation of civil society at every level of decision-making. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Ms Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, welcomed participants to the 9th session of the Forum on minority issues, the last session she would guide in her role as a Special Rapporteur. She had dedicated her thematic report to the General Assembly in light of her observations, during the course of her mandate, that minorities can be disproportionally affected during a crisis or in the aftermath, owing to their minority status. Drawing from her recent visits to Iraq and Sri Lanka as well as from the experience of minority groups such as Roma, Dalits and Muhamasheen, she highlighted a correlation between the impact of crises and minority status. She regretted the lack of data disaggregated by ethnicity, religion and language necessary to adequately map affected groups in crisis and feed into much needed analysis. She raised four specific challenges facing minorities affected by crises: the threat to existence, when minorities are directly targeted during conflict, including violence and xenophobic attacks, restriction on freedom of movement; obstacles in accessing basic services due to marginalization or discrimination; difficulties in claiming housing, land and property rights during and after crises; and equal opportunities and fair participation in return processes and the search for durable solutions. She pointed out that minorities are also more vulnerable to disasters as they may both inadequately prepared for such emergencies, and disproportionately affected by them. Minority communities are less likely to be equal beneficiaries of adequate humanitarian aid and rehabilitation when disaster strikes. She invited all participants to contribute to the draft recommendations, which aim at ensuring that minorities, in particular minority women and girls, are not further marginalized during or as a result of a crisis. The Chair of the ninth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, Mr Mario Yutzis, pointed out that issues related to migration control are putting human rights in the spotlight, with a particularly adverse effect on the rights of minorities. He regretted the restrictive migration policies adopted by a number of States and the growth of sectarian violence, which has led a number of ethnic and other minorities to leave their homes. He stressed that it is essential that governments, international organizations, local bodies and non-governmental organizations work together to protect minorities, protect them from racism, exclusion, and to protect their identities, but also their lives, particularly when humanitarian crises occur. He called for a more holistic approach to improve the links 3