Policy Responses on Recognition:  Recognition of minorities can be made in constitutions, public policies, by legal registration of minority organizations, or indirectly in census data or other surveys. In Canada, for example, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) recognizes the “multicultural heritage of Canadians”, two official languages (French and English), non-discrimination on the basis of “race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability” and specific protections regarding the rights of aboriginal peoples of Canada.  Census taking can be reformed to include data collection enabling persons belonging to minorities to express their ethnic, religious or linguistic identity for census purposes. The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank organized a series of conferences in Latin America entitled ‘Todos Contamos”(“Everyone Counts”) in order to support national governments and civil society to formulate better disaggregated data collection strategies.  Policies in a range of areas can promote recognition of minority identities, including public support for broadcasting in minority languages, curriculum reform to raise awareness of diversity, or public recognition of multi-denominational religious holidays.  Government authorities could engage minorities in dialogue on recognition and could provide technical support for drafting a legal and regulatory framework, thereby adopting positive measures for protection and promotion of minority identities. 3.3 PROTECTION OF EXISTENCE: Minorities have a right to protection of their collective physical existence. The UN Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities indicates that States “shall protect the existence” of minorities “within their respective territories” (article 1.1). This right is also safeguarded by the prohibition of genocide and ethnic cleansing. The intent to destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, “in whole or in part” is prohibited by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), whether it is carried out by killing members of the group or through other coercive measures devised to cause serious harm or physical destruction of the group (article 2). Although the Genocide Convention is not limited to protection of minorities, the dynamics of genocide are such that it is minorities that are most frequently targeted in this way. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court prohibits persecution against, inter alia, racial, national, ethnic, cultural or religious groups (article 7.1 (h)). Chapter 3: Fundamental Rights and Principles 17