IV • Guaranteeing the rights of minority women and girls 69. Parliamentary groups and committees of both minorities and minority women should be encouraged and supported, including through experience-sharing and capacity-building. 70. The Inter-Parliamentary Union is encouraged to continue to promote the representation and participation of minority women in parliaments and political life, and to specifically address the challenges facing minority women in this regard. 71. Central Governments should encourage the representation of minority women in local governments and provide them with opportunities to build their leadership skills once they gain seats. Minority women who become community leaders should be supported and promoted to become positive role models in their community and to educate society at large about the issues relevant to its minority groups. 72. Local governments and minority communities themselves should also empower and encourage young women members of minority communities to engage in the political life of their localities. 2. Political parties 74. Political parties and legislatures can consider adopting quotas or other measures to increase participation of women, including those belonging to minorities. In their efforts to reach out to the minority groups within their constituencies, they should make sure that they are also reaching out to the women in these groups and that they cultivate minority women’s engagement. Such efforts should include holding meetings in the regions where minorities live, seeking views of minority women within those groups, promoting them to leadership roles and engaging with minority and women’s organizations. 75. Political parties should consider establishing such measures as mentoring programmes through which successful minority women politicians may act as role models. They should identify minority women with potential and encourage them to run for office, raising awareness on minority women’s political participation while also reaching out to the majority population to ensure continuous dialogue among all groups in society. Compilation of Recommendations of the First Four Sessions 2008 to 2011 59 WOMEN AND GIRLS 73. Political parties should be aware of the diversity of the society and/or communities that they represent and take concrete steps, including adopting a policy statement to recognize the importance of reflecting such diversity. Parties should develop strategies to increase the level of minority women’s participation with specific targets, including by ensuring gender-balanced representation within their ranks.