A/HRC/49/81 15. United Nations, international and regional organizations, States and donor organizations should support the capacity-building of civil society organizations representing minority groups for monitoring, advocacy and strengthening of their human rights. 16. The United Nations should establish high-level mechanisms or forums on minority issues that are similar to existing structures on indigenous issues, such as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 17. The special procedures of the Human Rights Council and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights should hold yearly regional minorities forums, including online, to allow for greater regional participation by NGOs and other minorities, who often lack the resources to attend conferences in Geneva in person, and encourage a proliferation of ideas on how to solve ongoing regional conflicts and prevent them before they start. 18. The United Nations should continue to support the establishment of a voluntary fund for minority issues to facilitate the participation of minority representatives in relevant United Nations bodies and mechanisms. 19. All special procedure mandate holders should mainstream minority and indigenous rights into their mandates and work in consultation with members of those communities. 20. The United Nations should establish a mechanism that systematically monitors hate crimes and incitement to discrimination, hostility, and violence in accordance with article 20 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including a reporting mechanism for hate crimes or a new special procedure mandate on hate-based human rights violations. 21. Occupying powers should adhere to the norms of the international humanitarian law and exercise maximum restraint in the use of force, while ensuring the safety and security of everyone in occupied territories, including members of minority groups. 22. Efforts to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and develop postpandemic recovery plans should be organized in consultation with minorities and the vulnerabilities of minorities should be considered by including targeted measures to support them. III. Recommendations to address the root causes of contemporary conflicts involving minorities 23. States should strengthen the rule of law and the institutions necessary for the protection of minority rights and for countering impunity. 24. States should enhance the capacity of the national human rights institutions to operate effectively in regions with minority populations. 25. States should support human rights defenders working on minority issues, including journalists and lawyers, and protect them from repression and vigilante violence. 26. States should design and implement normative frameworks which recognize, support and promote minority languages, by: (a) Providing specific mechanisms and sufficient material resources to ensure that public services are accessible in minority languages; (b) Ensuring equal access to and non-discrimination in education for minorities, including minority women, youth and children, and provide education in minority languages; (c) Providing equal access to judicial systems and equality before the law regardless of ethnicity, race, religion or language; (d) Raising awareness of the benefits of mother tongue education, as well as the benefits of multilingualism in accordance with the practical guide entitled “Language rights of linguistic minorities: a practical guide for implementation” developed by the previous Special Rapporteur on minority issues. 4