A/HRC/16/39 the conviction that the implementation of minority rights contributes to the stability of States, as stated in the preamble of the Declaration. II. Work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at Headquarters and in the field 6. The High Commissioner’s Strategic Management Plan for the biennium 2010-2011, which provides guidance for the work of OHCHR in advancing human rights, focuses on six priority areas. The first thematic priority involves countering discrimination, in particular racial discrimination and discrimination on various other grounds, which frequently results in exclusion and marginalization. Problems affecting minority communities are often linked to violations of the principle of non-discrimination, which in turn contribute to the denial of effective participation by minorities in decisions affecting them in various fields, including the administration of justice. The High Commissioner describes in the sections below the various ways in which the work of OHCHR and United Nations human rights mechanisms addresses impediments to the full inclusion and equality of persons belonging to minorities. A. Policing and minority communities 7. Since 2008, OHCHR has organized a series of international and regional consultations with a strategy to encourage the participation of minorities in the administration of justice through law enforcement and, more specifically, policing. This initiative is based on article 2.2 of the Declaration on Minorities, which states that persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life. In the countries where they live, minorities tend to occupy a nondominant position and be underrepresented in the administration of justice, including policing, while they are likely to be overrepresented as victims and defendants in the criminal justice system. 8. In her previous report (A/HRC/15/42), the High Commissioner provided a summary on the second OHCHR regional consultation, held in Johannesburg, with the goal of gathering effective practices in the field of policing and minority communities. At the Johannesburg consultation, entitled “Expert consultation on good practices in policing and minority communities in Africa”, OHCHR gathered several effective practices that could serve to remove obstacles obstructing the participation and representation of minorities in policing. 9. Guided by the results of the Johannesburg consultation and the conviction that a police service free of discrimination could better assist in maintaining public order, reduce levels of criminality and lead to greater communal cohesion, OHCHR held its third regional consultation, covering the area of the Middle East and North Africa. The expert consultation on effective practices in policing and minority communities in the Middle East and North Africa was held in Beirut on 20 and 21 September 2010. Like the two previous ones, the goal of the consultation was to provide a forum for discussions and exchange of experiences with a view to gather effective practices in policing and minority communities from the region. 10. The consultation brought together 32 participants from a variety of relevant backgrounds, from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They included high-ranking officials from the police, representatives of national human rights institutions and civil society, in addition to experts 4