A/HRC/34/53/Add.2 More recently, the 2016-2020 Roma Action Plan, the Inter-Ethnic Integration Strategy 2016-2025 and the 2017-2020 Human Rights Plan have been adopted or are in the process of being adopted. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to develop an implementation road map for the action plans and the strategy and to provide sufficient and secured budget for them. 98. Institutional attention to minority rights should be strengthened. The Special Rapporteur recommends that sufficient funding be provided to both the Bureau of Inter-Ethnic Relations and the Equality Council, given their important roles in monitoring the overall situation of minorities, serving as a bridge to minority communities, ensuring non-discrimination and implementing relevant laws and policies. Furthermore, she recommends that the Government take the steps necessary to expand the functions of both institutions, so they can adequately and comprehensively fulfil their mandates. 99. A dedicated minority rights mechanism should be established in the Government in the form of a permanent secretariat in charge of coordinating minority issues, with the inclusion of representatives of minority communities. 100. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which was signed by the Republic of Moldova in 2002, the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 101. The Government should consider observing the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, including the implementation of the Programme of Activities presented by the General Assembly as a framework to help combat discrimination against African-descent people. Linguistic rights 102. The Government should take the measures necessary to guarantee a quality education in the State language for all, and consider the design and implementation of bilingual and multilingual education programmes to ensure that minorities can learn and receive instruction in their own language/mother tongue. 103. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to redouble efforts in order to guarantee the free choice to use the State language, Russian or a minority language when addressing public institutions. She recommends that the Government make the official websites available in minority languages. She further urges the Government to guarantee the possibility for minorities to have their names written in compliance with their relevant language standards, and for Russian minorities to have their patronymics issued in their identity cards. Religious minorities 104. The Republic of Moldova has a wide range of religions and belief groups, and religious freedoms and the rights of religious minorities are to a larger extent protected. The Special Rapporteur notes that concerns were expressed to her about the favourable treatment by the State of the Orthodox Church and its influence in determining societal morals and values. She calls on the Government to ensure the implementation of the recommendations regarding religious minorities made by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief following his visits to the Republic of Moldova, and to revise the requirement of 100 signatories of Moldovan nationality to register a religious organization. 20

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