A/HRC/34/21* United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 16 December 2016 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirty-fourth session 27 February-24 March 2017 Agenda items 2 and 3 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Summary The Human Rights Council, in its resolutions 13/12, 22/4 and 31/13 concerning the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to present an annual report to the Council. This report is to contain information on relevant developments in the field of minority rights worldwide, including the work of United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms, as well as on the activities undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) at headquarters and in the field that contribute to the promotion of and respect for the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The present report is being submitted pursuant to these resolutions. During the 2016 reporting period, OHCHR continued to address the situation of minorities. The strategies and initiatives of OHCHR, in line with the guidance note of the Secretary-General on racial discrimination and protection of minorities, aim to promote the implementation of the Declaration. It supported Governments, civil society and minority representatives with expertise and capacity-building and led efforts to enhance system-wide * Reissued for technical reasons on 3 March 2017. GE.16-22297(E) 