A/HRC/55/51 I. Introduction 1. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues was established by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 2005/79 of 21 April 2005. It was subsequently extended by the Human Rights Council in successive resolutions, the most recent being resolution 52/5 approved by consensus on 5 April 2023, which extended the mandate under the same terms as provided for in resolution 25/5 of 27 March 2014. 2. The Special Rapporteur, Nicolas Levrat of Switzerland, was appointed by the Human Rights Council on 13 October 2023 and assumed his functions on 1 November 2023. His term in office may be renewed for two three-year periods. 3. The Special Rapporteur is honoured to be entrusted with the mandate and thanks the Human Rights Council for its trust in him. He also wishes to thank the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for its support in the implementation of the mandate. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to pay tribute to the three previous mandate holders, Gay McDougall, Rita Izsak and Fernand de Varennes, whose work and commitment to enhance the situation of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities have constituted essential contributions to the cause of minorities. 4. Despite all those efforts, one cannot help but notice that, when the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities was celebrated in 2022, the Secretary-General made the following strong statement: “Thirty years on – the world is falling short. Far short. We are not dealing with gaps – we are dealing with outright inaction and negligence in the protection of minority rights.”1 That observation underlines the extent of the work still left for a new mandate holder on minority issues. Enhancing the consideration given to minority issues by the international community will be the priority of the Special Rapporteur over the coming years. 5. The present report is the first one submitted by the new Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council. In the following paragraphs, the Special Rapporteur will outline his vision and the main priorities for the mandate. The Special Rapporteur is eager to receive feedback and comments on both the vision and priorities, in order to build up a dialogue with Governments, United Nations bodies dealing with issues related to the mandate, civil society, affected groups and other stakeholders. 6. The report contains six substantive sections. In section II, the Special Rapporteur provides an overview of the activities of the previous Special Rapporteur in 2023. In section III, he sheds light on the outcome of the sixteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues. In section IV, he presents his own vision of minority issues. Section V contains the priorities of the mandate holder for the coming years. In section VI, the Special Rapporteur gives an overview of the thematic reports that he envisages for the coming years. Lastly, in section VII, he makes some conclusions and recommendations. 7. Due to the lateness of his appointment, the Special Rapporteur has not had much time to devote to the mandate yet. Therefore, the Special Rapporteur would welcome feedback from member States and other stakeholders on sections IV, V and VI of the present report. On that basis, he may, in next year’s report, refine his vision and priorities. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur in 2023 8. The newly appointed Special Rapporteur was scheduled to be appointed at the fiftythird session of the Human Rights Council and start his mandate on 1 August 2023. However, the appointment was postponed until the fifty-fourth session. The mandate of the previous Special Rapporteur was subsequently extended until 31 October 2023. The current Special Rapporteur only started his mandate on 1 November 2023. Consequently, most of the activities of the mandate for 2023 were conducted by the previous Special Rapporteur, Fernand de Varennes, whose activities comprise the majority of section II. 1 2 Quoted in the report presented to the General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur on minority issues in October 2023 (A/78/195, para. 47). GE.24-00944