A/72/165 accepted. Arab populations were mentioned in 12 recommendations to 4 countries: Israel (8), Islamic Republic of Iran (2), France (1) and the United States (1). The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States noted the recommendations; the rest were accepted. Christians were mentioned in 11 recommendations to 9 countries: Islamic Republic of Iran (2), Pakistan (2), the Central African Republic (1), China (1), Indonesia (1), Israel (1), Nigeria (1), Turkmenistan (1) and Uzbekistan (1). A total of 5 were noted (by China, Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan and Uzbekistan) and 6 were accepted. Of the 11 recommendations that mentioned the Baha’is, 10 were to the Islamic Republic of Iran and 1 was to Indonesia. Indonesia accepted the recommendation, while Iran noted all of them. 95. There were 15 recommendations in the second cycle (compared with 41 in the first cycle) that referred to treaty bodies and minorities: 12 were accepted a nd 3 noted. There were 13 recommendations referring to special procedures and minorities: 7 of them were accepted and 6 noted. A total of 5 referred to the Independent Expert or the Special Rapporteur on minority issues. 96. With respect to areas of concern contained in the recommendations, the analysis revealed 33 main thematic areas: access, birth registration, citizenship, criminal justice, culture, discrimination, education, employment, equality, ethnicity, hate or hatred, health or health care, housing, human rights, intolerance or xenophobia, judicial matters, land rights, language-related matters, legislation and the law, media, nationality-related matters, participation, police, poverty, protection, racism, religion or belief, segregation, social inclusion, torture, training, violence and water and sanitation. VII. Conclusions 97. The year 2017 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The anniversary constitutes a reminder and a crucial opportunity for States to strengthen their respective legislation on minority rights protection to ensure that it is fully in line with the Declaration. The Special Rapporteur recalls the four pillars of minority rights protection that should be reflected in those laws: first, the protection of a minority’s survival by combating violence against its members and preventing genocide; second, the protection and promotion of the cultural identity of minority groups and their right to enjoy their collective identity and to reject forced assimilation; third, the guarantee of the right to non-discrimination and equality, including ending structural or systemic discrimination and the promotion of affirmative action, when required; and fourth, the right of minorities to effective participation in public life and in decisions that affect them. She stresses that non-discrimination clauses, which provide for equal treatment for all members of society, without the aforementioned additional guarantees, have often proved insufficient for the effective protection of disadvantaged minorities. 98. The United Nations in general should advocate minority rights protection more strongly at both the national and regional levels, with a view to ensuring that States strengthen their legal, policy and institutional frameworks and that regional anti-discrimination and minority rights standards and mechanisms are put in place for the protection and promotion of minority rights, respectively. 99. Equally, the United Nations should ensure that the composition of its staff in all offices and entities, in particular in the field, reflects the national, ethnic and religious make-up of the societies in which they operate. 17-12138 21/22