A/HRC/FMI/2016/1 promoting inclusive and resilient societies can ensure that minorities do not suffer disproportionately from the impact of humanitarian crises other than conflicts, in other words crises such as disasters or pandemics. Participants will be invited to consider and propose ways to ensure that international, regional, national and local humanitarian actors systematically take into account the needs of minorities and other vulnerable groups in their planning, risk assessments and contingency plans. Participants will discuss ways to overcome common challenges in the equal distribution of humanitarian aid, including physical and security obstacles to remote areas and the lack of adequate funding or other resources for acquiring the logistical means to access communities in such areas. Participants will seek to identify effective strategies that will enable Governments and humanitarian actors to establish trusted channels of communication with communities at risk, including minority communities, before crises occur. They will discuss how the establishment of efficient and trusted communication lines before crises arise can be essential in at least two respects: in terms of collecting accurate information and data about minority groups to develop plans, including contingency plans; and in terms of ensuring the meaningful participation of minorities in the development of such plans. Participants will also consider how best to ensure that trusted communication lines remain operational when crises arise. 4. Protecting minority rights during humanitarian crises Participants will seek to identify the needs of minorities, including the specific needs of minority women and children, in humanitarian crises and to assess the risk they run of suffering disproportionately from the impact of such crises. Participants will highlight various factors that perpetuate the disproportionate impact of crises on minorities and discuss the need to develop more targeted strategies and to increase aid and security investments to better meet the specific needs of and respond to the impacts on minorities. They will discuss ways to ensure that minorities are not discriminated against in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, in spite of the many challenges, including by assessing the number and location of certain minorities directly or indirectly affected by a humanitarian crisis and by identifying who might be trapped between conflict lines, who might be located in camps for internally displaced persons, informal settlements or host families, who might be dispersed and who will only be able to benefit fully from international protection if they are able to access the territory of another State. Participants will recall the importance for minority communities to be well informed of their rights before, during and after a crisis, to enable them to hold State and humanitarian organizations to account. They will review the importance of guaranteeing the physical safety and freedom of movement of minorities affected by crisis, as well as of fulfilling their economic, social and cultural rights and their civil and political rights. Participants will address the importance of protecting civilians during conflict and the need to implement effectively international humanitarian law and international human rights law in order, inter alia, to ensure a minimal impact on civilian populations, reduce forced displacement, stop attacks on civilians and ensure and respect humanitarian corridors to places in conflict zones. Participants will address how a minority rights approach can guide disaster response efforts, thereby ensuring that minority voices and concerns are taken into account in relief and recovery programmes. Participants will explore how empowering local humanitarian actors could contribute to a better representation of minorities’ interests during humanitarian operations. Acknowledging the diversity and complementarity of well-coordinated international, 3