A/80/186
on ethnic minorities, or sometimes religious minorities, in relation to discrimination
based on work and descent (castes). In the field of security, 66 the focus is primarily
on religious minorities, or sometimes national minorities, while specialized agencies
concentrate on cultural rights, communication or education, 67 with a focus on
linguistic minorities. This segmentation of minorities into different categories,
although understandable and supported by wording of the Declaration on the Rights
of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minori ties, 68
leads to a lack of visibility for “minority-focused” actions in general.
IV. Conclusions and recommendations
67. There is room to increase the attention paid by the United Nations system
to minority issues. The good news is that the problem is caused more by a lack
of visibility than a lack of activity. It can therefore be addressed without a major
budgetary increase. In addition, existing mechanisms to deal with minority issues
could be put to better use. For example, the United Nations system could
strengthen the United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection
of minorities by providing it with resources, while enhancing participation in the
network and scaling up the output of its activities for greater impact across the
United Nations system and beyond. United Nations entities should also increase
their active participation in the Forum on Minority Issues in order to engage
with minority representatives and help civil society to see and understand the
engagement of the United Nations as a whole in support of persons belonging to
minorities. Recalling the appeal that the Secretary-General made to the General
Assembly in 2022, it is time for Members States to deal properly with minority
issues, in line with the commitments that they made in 1992 by adopting the
Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious
and Linguistic Minorities.
68. The Special Rapporteur, recalling that minorities are not mentioned at all
in either the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or the Pact of the Future,
strongly recommends that Member States live up to the commitment that they
made in 1992 to recognize the existence and identity of minorities by
acknowledging the existence and the specific needs of minorities and by
specifically mentioning minorities in the post-2030 agenda.
69. Considering the major ongoing reforms of the United Nations system, the
Special Rapporteur calls on Member States to recognize the centrality of
minority issues not only to the human rights pillar, but also to the development
and the peace and security pillars, and to acknowledge their interconnected
nature, with a view to ensuring that minority issues are much better integrated
into the emerging reformed system.
70. In order to help ensure the implementation of the preceding
recommendation, the Special Rapporteur calls on the General Assembly to
organize an international summit or conference on minority issues in advance of
the negotiation and elaboration of a post-2030 agenda, with a view to ensuring
that the question of minorities is addressed in the development, human rights
and peace and security pillars and that minorities are considered actors in the
context of those pillars.
__________________
66
67
68
25-11708
Security Council, Department of Peace Operations and Department of Political and Peacebuilding
Affairs.
ITU and UNESCO.
See also A/74/160 and A/75/211.
19/21