A/HRC/22/49 speak minority languages and wish to maintain and use them in public and private life. Linguistic minorities are frequently also national, ethnic or religious minorities and consequently the challenges they face may be exacerbated by discrimination on the grounds of their ethnicity, religion or nationality. 19. Historical factors such as colonialism have had a huge global impact on languages, resulting in the marginalization of indigenous and minority languages and a rapid decline in their use.12 The introduction of colonial languages in Africa, Asia and the Americas initiated the marginalization of native and minority languages. Colonial languages were promoted in education, administration, political life and communications.13 Minority and indigenous languages were often seen as backwards, a barrier to colonial hegemony, or as slowing national development. It can also be argued that today globalization is having a direct and detrimental impact on minority languages and linguistic diversity, as global communications and marketplaces require global understanding. 20. A common problem faced by minorities is that minority languages are frequently not used in national or local administration or as the language of instruction in schools. Consequently those belonging to minorities may face barriers to their full participation in public life and children from minorities may be disadvantaged in education from an early age. While accurate and detailed disaggregated data are scarce in most countries, evidence suggests that those belonging to linguistic minorities are at greater risk of experiencing poor socioeconomic indicators relative to majority populations, poorer educational access and worse education outcomes, and consequently lower incomes and disproportionate levels of poverty. 21. For some who belong to linguistic minorities, including those who are not proficient in national languages and those who live in remote and rural localities where service provision and access are poor or difficult, the situation may be much worse and their economic, social and geographic mobility can be severely hampered. The situation of some minority women and girls, as well as older people, may also be particularly problematic. For example, women and girls may face challenges, including relatively low levels of education and poor access to language learning opportunities relative to men and boys, that further restrict their ability to interact and benefit from opportunities outside their communities. 22. Each State can decide how it implements minority and linguistic rights in practice, and it is reasonable to consider that greater attention and resources will be dedicated to commonly spoken, traditionally present or geographically concentrated minority languages than is given to relatively newly arrived linguistic groups with few or dispersed members. Nevertheless, reasonable accommodation of smaller and less commonly used minority languages is required. Indeed, it may be the case that some highly marginalized minority groups require greater attention and stronger measures to support their linguistic and cultural rights. Modalities to support small or dispersed linguistic communities can include informal language classes within or outside public education structures, provision of key public information documents in such language, and consultation with cultural and national associations representing linguistic minorities to assess and respond to specific needs. 23. Minorities benefit immensely from proficiency in the official State or national languages, which enables them to integrate fully into and contribute to all aspects of society and enjoy the opportunities available to all. Without such proficiency minorities face severe barriers to their full participation in cultural, economic, political and social life. They may, 12 13 See Innocent Maja, ―Towards the human rights protection of minority languages in Africa‖ (April 2008). Available from www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Minority_Languages_Africa.htm. Ibid. 7