promoted through an approach of "enlightened self-interest". The first
step is to convince private investors that long-term conflict prevention is
good for business. The second is to provide them with the tools,
including an understanding of minority problems, in order to ensure that
their activities contribute to inclusion and long-term stability.
Third, no matter how well intended they may be, special measures to
promote the economic inclusion of minorities are destined to fail if they
are not devised, implemented and evaluated in a genuine partnership with
minorities. If consultation is limited to a token process, it will be
meaningless, if not counter-productive. Conversely, meaningful
consultation and effective participation require special arrangements such
as those included in the Recommendations of last year’s Forum. Let us
therefore underline the links between both domains.
Fourth, in order to effectively assess, on the one hand, the scope and
nature of inequality and, on the other hand, the results of special measures
to address them, we need reliable and disaggregated data. We need to
base and evaluate policies on a sound factual basis in order to move
beyond perceptions and assumptions. As with non-discrimination
policies, this requires strong and independent institutions.
Fifth, in order for economic policies to be truly inclusive, States need to
actively fight corruption. In weak or emerging States, state power is often
“privatised” and the public institutions that constitute the state can
become the private realm of corrupt officials, black market businessmen
and organised crime. Under such circumstances, the official legal
framework is replaced by the informal rules of clans and networks. What