A/HRC/34/53/Add.2 corruption and the mismanagement of resources as a means of increasing trust in political leadership. The Special Rapporteur notes that, while economic constraints may have an impact on availability of resources, this should not be used as a justification for a lack of funding allocation, including for measures to ensure minority rights. 5. While recognizing that each State can decide how to implement minority rights in practice, the Special Rapporteur stresses that realizing the rights of minorities is not only an essential means to prevent tensions from emerging but also an instrumental element of good governance and conflict prevention. Moreover, the progressive implementation of economic, social and cultural rights is a positive and undebatable State obligation under international human rights law, and hence any regression on those rights will amount to a violation of the law. These are compelling reasons to make minority rights protection and promotion a robust part of the human rights agenda of the Government. 6. The results of a census conducted in 2014 have yet to be made public. Data from the 2004 census4 refers to the ethnic composition of the Republic of Moldova as 75.8 per cent Moldovan; 8.4 per cent Ukrainian; 5.9 per cent Russian; 4.4 per cent Gagauz; 2.2 per cent Romanian and 1.9 per cent Bulgarian, with other nationalities accounting for less than 1 per cent of the population. In terms of religious affiliation, 93.3 per cent belong to the Moldovan Orthodox Church, while minority religious groups include Baptists (1 per cent), Seventh-day Adventists (0.4 per cent), Pentecostals (0.3 per cent), Old Rite Christians (0.15 per cent), Evangelical Christians (0.15 per cent) and others (1.1 per cent). Of the total number of the census respondents, 1.4 per cent declared themselves to be atheists or nonreligious. 7. The Special Rapporteur met with representatives of the National Bureau of Statistics, who informed her that 30 per cent of the data of the 2014 census had already been processed and the full results of the 2014 census were expected to be made public in March 2017. She welcomes the fact that the 2014 census had given individuals the opportunity to self-identify and express multiple identities and that the final results would provide data disaggregated inter alia by gender, ethnicity, language and religious affiliation. She emphasizes the importance of disaggregated data to reveal the status of minorities in relation to other groups and enable legislators and policymakers to establish targeted programmes for them on the basis of their minority status, socioeconomic indicators, gender and other characteristics. She stresses that no undue delays should prevent such important data from being made available publicly as, in the absence of such data, there might be speculation and manipulation relating to the size of certain groups. 8. The Republic of Moldova has historically been a multi-ethnic, multireligious and multicultural society. The individual identities of persons belonging to minorities are often complex and dynamic. Minority identities are multilayered when ethnic minorities belong to another linguistic minority group. Many minority persons have multiple identities also owing to mixed marriages. In some instances, minority groups not only present specific characteristics but often have divisions and fractures within communities, with differing views and concerns voiced by particular sub-groups or segments of communities. 9. The majority of those minority and other representatives consulted in all locations visited described a situation of generally peaceful inter-ethnic and interfaith relations while acknowledging the existence of divisions of groups along ethnic, religious and linguistic lines. Violence, intimidation or aggression on the basis of national, ethnic, linguistic or religious identity of minorities are rare. However, some communities and their members 4 4 See National Bureau of Statistics, 2004 Population Census, available from www.statistica.md/pageview.php?l=en&idc=263&id=2208.