A/HRC/37/66 D. Education as a human right and its contours and impact for minorities 46. Despite the importance of education as a fundamental human right that is critical to the preservation of the identity of minorities, education has never been addressed in a thematic report by this mandate.14 Some United Nations and other agencies have addressed education from different perspectives, including in relation to language rights 15 and racial discrimination.16 47. Issues surrounding access to quality education without discrimination remain key challenges for many minorities and States worldwide. The Special Rapporteur considers this a main thematic priority of his mandate. He is of the view that education is not only a key component for the protection of the identity of minorities, but it is central to their effective and full inclusion in society. The existence of minorities should no longer be merely tolerated or accepted. 48. In executing the mandate and building upon the knowledge and experience of international organizations, civil society groups and other stakeholders, the Special Rapporteur hopes to further promote the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Minorities by clarifying the nature and extent of the human rights of minorities in the area of education, particularly as they relate to the use of a minority language as the medium of instruction. That issue figures prominently in many contexts. V. Communications sent to governments in 2017 49. A total of 45 communications have been sent to governments since January 2017. Of those, 41 were sent jointly with other special procedure mandate holders. Of the joint communications, 20 were urgent appeals, 21 were letters of allegation. Three joint letters were also sent expressing legislation and policy concerns. One individual letter was sent during the reporting period. 50. The largest number of communications (seven) were sent to States in the AsiaPacific region, followed by Europe and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, to which five communications were sent respectively. Four communications were sent to States in the Africa region. 51. The largest number of communications (14) dealt with cases pertaining to ethnic minorities, 13 communications concerned religious minorities, 7 communications concerned religious and ethnic minorities, while 3 communications addressed linguistic minorities. VI. Research on the second cycle of the universal periodic review process 52. Towards the end of 2016, the previous mandate holder conducted a study on the second cycle of the universal periodic review to analyse all minority-related recommendations.17 The main findings were summarized in her final report of 24 July 2017 14 15 16 17 The former Working Group on Minorities, established in 1995 and replaced by the Forum on Minority Issues in 2007, did, however, carry out work on topics such as multicultural and intercultural education. See Language Rights of Linguistic Minorities: A Practical Guide for Implementation (2017). Available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Minorities/SR/LanguageRightsLinguisticMinorities _EN.pdf. See Guidance note of the Secretary-General on racial discrimination and the protection of minorities (2013), recommendation 18. The research was conducted by the members of the Human Rights Project at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, with assistance from the team at UPR Info. 11