14th Session, 2 and 3 December 2021 UN Forum on Minority Issues Conflict Prevention and the Protection of the Human Rights of Minorities Concept Note The fourteenth session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues will be convened on 2 and 3 December 2021 in Palais des Nations in Geneva and online pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 6/15 of 28 September 2007 and resolution 19/23 of 23 March 2012. This year, the theme of the UN Forum is "Conflict Prevention and the Protection of the Human Rights of Minorities". 1. Background Upholding [the human rights of minorities] is not only the right thing to do – it is a powerful way to defuse tensions, prevent conflict and facilitate broad-based economic prosperity… No society will ever find sustainable harmony and peace without justice; and development will always be impeded when members of society are held back. Minorities – and minority youth – are not a threat; they are under threat. Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN Forum on Minority Issues, 13 December 2017. Most conflicts are characterized by the insufficient inclusion of minorities often coupled with disregard of their identities and grievances as well as denial of their human rights. The Rabat Plan of Action notes that many of the conflicts worldwide in past decades have also – to varying degrees – contained a component of incitement to national, racial or religious hatred.