A/HRC/19/27
• Training in promoting effective policing should focus on changes in behaviour
leading to changes in attitude
• Trust in the police service and the community can be encouraged through effective
communication
B.
Training workshop on minority rights
12.
On 2 and 3 June 2011, OHCHR conducted a regional training workshop on the
protection of the rights of minorities for OHCHR staff members based in the South-East
Asia region, as well as for staff members from UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR and the United
Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women)
working in the same region.
13.
The training workshop, which was held in Bangkok with the support of the OHCHR
Regional Office, was part of the ongoing efforts of the Office to provide training aimed at
strengthening the mainstreaming capacity of OHCHR field presences and United Nations
country teams. The training also sought to integrate the protection of the rights of minorities
into country and regional strategies and development programmes, including by creating
consultative mechanisms to support agencies on policy issues affecting minorities. This
training activity also resulted in greater understanding of definitions, standards,
mechanisms and implementation strategies in addressing the protection of the rights of
persons belonging to minorities.
C.
Minorities fellowship programme
14.
In its efforts to build the capacity of civil society actors, OHCHR offers a fellowship
programme for persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.
In 2011, following extensive consultations and revisions, the programme has been further
improved and the presence of fellows from the two linguistic components programme
(English and Arabic) as one group coincided with the annual session of the Forum on
Minority Issues. The programme was conducted from 14 November to 16 December 2011
and brought to Geneva persons belonging to minorities from Canada, Iraq, Kenya,
Mauritania, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sri Lanka and Yemen. Through the fellowship
programme, OHCHR offers minorities an opportunity to gain knowledge about the United
Nations system and the mechanisms dealing with international human rights in general and
minority rights in particular.
15.
In 2011, for the first time, the fellowship programme included joint sessions with the
participants of the Global Advocacy Programme, organized by Minority Rights Group
International in partnership with OHCHR and aimed at building the capacity of minority
rights advocates.
16.
Furthermore, a position of senior fellow was created in 2011 with the aim of giving
an experienced minority rights expert an opportunity to gain further practical knowledge
and working level experience by directly contributing to the programmes and activities of
the OHCHR Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section. The first senior fellow, from the
Uighur minority in China, she worked at OHCHR from October to December 2011.
D.
Inter-Agency Group on Minorities
17.
The Inter-Agency Group on Minorities convened its seventh meeting on 4 October
2011, pursuant to article 9 of the Declaration on Minorities. According to Article 9, the
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