A/HRC/58/34 legal status, religion, age or any other factor, including indirect, intersectional and structural factors. The Special Rapporteur also reminded States of their obligation to act to prevent and redress violations committed on their territory and by entities based within their borders to ensure free and safe participation in sports by all. She encouraged States and sporting associations to prioritize the equal participation in sports of minority and marginalized persons.39 H. Empowerment and participation 53. As an integral part of the work of OHCHR on mainstreaming minority issues and on capacity-building for minority rights advocates, the annual Minorities Fellowship Programme (30 October–30 November 2024) – held in Arabic, English and Russian – provided 16 women and 13 men from 26 countries with knowledge of the United Nations human rights machinery and reinforced their advocacy skills to better use international human rights standards and mechanisms. Among the key highlights of the 2024 Programme was a one-week preparatory training course in Strasbourg, France, in collaboration with the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the Faculty of Law of the University of Strasbourg. The fellows also participated in the seventeenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues. In addition, a total of eight minority fellows from previous years, including five persons of African descent, have been employed for six months as senior fellows with OHCHR country and regional offices in Fiji and Peru, with the United Nations country teams in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Nigeria and the Philippines and with OHCHR in Geneva, supporting the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues. 54. The theme of the seventeenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, held in Geneva in November, was “Minority representation and self-representation in public spaces and discourses”.40 The Forum aimed at exploring solutions to promote better representation of minorities as a factor of inclusion and at contributing to the integration of minority issues into the institutions, mechanisms and initiatives of the United Nations system at all levels. The Forum identified and analysed opportunities, best practices and initiatives that focused on the misrepresentation and lack of representation of minorities in public spaces and discourses, to strengthen the recognition of minorities as valuable and constitutive parts of more open, cohesive and diverse societies and to promote positive change in that regard. I. Linguistic minorities 55. In June, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia collaborated with the National Museum of Somalia to host an exhibition in Mogadishu highlighting the linguistic diversity of Somalia using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the minority languages. During the event, officials from the Museum emphasized the importance of preserving the linguistic minorities of Somalia for the benefit of future generations. Representatives from the local communities, who participated in the event, presented highlights of their cultures and underlined that understanding the Declaration in local languages would help them advocate locally for human rights. 56. Trust-building efforts of the human rights component of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo focused, inter alia, on promoting language rights and multilingualism in Kosovo.41 It supported the strengthening of the implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages at both the central and the municipal levels. In May, the commentary to the Law was finalized, providing policymakers and practitioners with clear guidance for prompt and accurate implementation of the Law. The human rights component enhanced joint advocacy and collaboration between the Office of the Ombudsperson and the Office of the Language Commissioner. 39 40 41 12 A/79/299, paras. 4, 21, 91, 93 and 94. See www.ohchr.org/en/events/forums/2024/seventeenth-session-forum-minorities-issues. References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999). GE.25-00006