A/74/215 the world’s stateless people belonged to minority groups, and that States needed to take positive steps to combat statelessness for everyone, but notably minorities. 27. Although the Forum offers a sound avenue for dialogue on minority rights issues, its ability to be relevant throughout the year and have a positive impact on the rights of minority groups is significant limited. Ultimately, what the Forum does best is offer a space for participants to advance understanding of existing norms, including in view of the emerging phenomena, call for new norms to be included in the corpus of minority rights, look at the compatibility of national minority frameworks with international law and standards and present examples of the practice of States and other actors in interpreting the norms . The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, with its 16 members and its permanent secretariat, has a higher status and is able to address indigenous peoples’ issues throughout the year, with greater visibility and impact. B. Development and minorities: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 28. Under the development pillar, there is no dedicated institutional mechanism on minority rights, although several United Nations development entities have mandates that are highly relevant and article 9 of the Declaration foresees their contribution to implementing the declaration. The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, established by the General Assembly in 2000, offers a potential model for future cooperation on minority rights. More recently, in its resolution 73/262, the Assembly decided to establish a permanent forum on people of African descent, which will serve as a consultation mechanism for people of African descent and other interested stakeholders as a platform for improving the quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent. 29. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development contains global commitments for sustainable development through 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets, to be monitored by a set of indicators. The key principle of the Goals is to leave no one behind, which calls for priority attention to be paid to the inclusion of persons belonging to minority groups, as those who are often the most marginalized or disadvantaged. Achieving that goal requires coordinated action across the institutional framework and the strategic use of the legal standards on minority rights that underpin the 2030 Agenda. There is no explicit mention of minority groups in the Goals, in contrast to specific recognition of other groups, including indigenous peoples, refugees and migrants. The key principle of leaving no one behind requires priority attention to be paid to the inclusion of persons belonging to minority groups. 30. All targets of the 2030 Agenda should apply equally to minority groups, however, there are some that point more directly to the standards of minority rights. Importantly, the targets include a focus on key protected characteristics of minority groups, such as race, ethnicity and religion, which opens the door for protection of other minority rights. An important example is found in Goal 10, to reduce inequality within and among countries, which includes target 10.2, to, by 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status. Inclusion in that sense can be interpreted through the lens of minority rights and, in that way, various forms of participation in decision-making can be envisaged. It is reinforced by Goal 16, to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. 19-12558 9/15