A/HRC/46/57/Add.1 observations and exchanges in situ from some of the non-governmental parties that the Special Rapporteur met suggest that minorities are vastly underrepresented at almost all levels of employment. 59. The absence of recognition of the use of minority languages as languages for public services to be used by local officials in areas where minorities are a significant proportion of the population could be considered to be discriminatory, since it not only affects the quality of and access to public services, such as health care and other services, but also limits employment opportunities for those who are more fluent in minority languages. According to the practical guide on language rights, it could be a breach of the prohibition of discrimination not to offer public services in a minority language, and the associated employment opportunities for those fluent in these languages, in such contexts where in addition to Russian and Kyrgyz, the use of another minority language for public services such as Uzbek or the language of geographically concentrated minorities is reasonable and justified. G. Deaf community and the use of sign languages 60. Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as members of their families and others who use sign languages to communicate, are using a fully fledged language. Since they form less than half of the population of the country, they are members of a linguistic minority falling within the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, as specified in his reports to the General Assembly in 2019 on the concept of a minority and in 2020 on the significance and scope of the four categories of minorities in the United Nations system: national or ethnic, religious and linguistic. 61. In Kyrgyzstan, there are two State schools for deaf persons and one for hard-ofhearing persons, with a total of 759 students for the 2017/18 school year. Unfortunately, sign language is not consistently used as a medium of instruction or even generally taught in these schools. Instead, students tend to be trained in lip-reading and articulation. 62. It appears that most public services where sign language may be used are provided through the Kyrgyz Society of the Blind and Deaf, a public association that supplies the Government with sign language interpreters, including for court proceedings. While the Special Rapporteur received positive comments about its work, there remains a shortage of trained teaching staff for sign language, and the Kyrgyz Society of the Blind and Deaf has on its roster only four sign language interpreters, all based in Bishkek. 63. Also on the positive side, sign language is recognized and protected by law in Kyrgyzstan. Article 3 of the 2008 law on rights of and guarantees for persons with disabilities obliges the Government to provide sign language interpretation in areas of education and health care, in court proceedings, in the provision of State and municipal services and in other areas, with the purpose of protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. The law also obliges the Government to provide training to sign language interpreters, teachers and speech therapists and to ensure the inclusion of sign language in the media. 64. However, there is no Government programme in place for the provision of sign language interpretation in hospitals and other medical centres, and deaf persons are obliged to be accompanied either by their own interpreter or by a relative who can facilitate communication with the medical personnel. It is the understanding of the Special Rapporteur that this is the case in most public services, with the exception of education and court proceedings. There is, therefore, a need for stronger government support, including adequate public funding and State involvement in the provision of sign language interpretation, and the development and implementation of training programmes for sign language interpreters. 65. What little sign language information is provided in the media has been sporadic when supported by international donors, and government financial support is still pending for the development of a mobile phone application and the operation of a call centre for remote assistance for users of sign languages. Finally, the Government of Kyrgyzstan needs to provide additional support to deaf people in the area of employment, through job creation and the award of tenders. 11