A/HRC/16/45 C. Collaboration with the United Nations specialized agencies 14. Further to her ongoing collaboration with UNDP to further enhance the Programme’s policy and programming interventions on minority issues, the independent expert is pleased to announce that the publication Marginalised Minorities in Development Programming: A UNDP Resource Guide and Toolkit2, was launched and distributed to UNDP offices and staff globally on 26 May 2010. This publication is a tangible outcome of a comprehensive consultative and drafting process, led by a task force composed of lead policy advisers from all UNDP practice areas, regional bureaus, Regional Service Centres, country office practitioners, the independent expert, OHCHR staff, and Minority Rights Group International. The process also benefited tremendously from the inputs provided by representatives of civil society organizations working on minority issues in over 35 countries to an internal discussion paper. 15. The Resource Guide and Toolkit provides an overview of the international and regional legal standards and mechanisms relevant for minority rights and will enable UNDP staff in all regions to understand the key conceptual issues and fundamental principles for the promotion and protection of minority rights. It reviews programming opportunities and relevant strategies for UNDP to integrate minorities in development, including capacity development support for government officials and institutions, UNDP staff and minorities, as well as possible entry points for effective advocacy and partnership building efforts. Detailed attention is given to opportunities and strategies in UNDP practice areas. It provides specific tools to assist UNDP staff in building or strengthening their work on minorities in development in such key areas as: situation analysis; data collection; and monitoring and evaluation. Annexes provide a vast number of reference materials, including selected conclusions and recommendations on minority rights from United Nations treaty bodies, and studies and reports of the independent expert. 16. This invaluable source material has the potential to increase the opportunities available to minorities for meaningful participation and representation in development processes and for strengthening partnerships to protect and promote the rights of minorities. The independent expert looks forward to it being operationalized in different regional and country contexts, for which roll-out strategies are currently being drafted. As an initial regional activity to launch and promote the Resource Guide and Toolkit, the independent expert contributed to a Community of Practice Meeting of National Human Rights Institutions from the Caucasus and Central Asia held from 30 September to 1 October 2010, in Yerevan, Armenia. This conference addressed “Promoting Minority Rights and Gender Equality Agenda – Role of Independent and Effective National Human Rights Institutions” during which the Resource Guide and Toolkit was presented to participants. 17. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been engaged in minority rights interventions as part of its overall child-focused programming strategy which pays particular attention to vulnerable and excluded groups. The most visible and common forms have been in the field of education, where interculturalism and bilingual education have been the focus, and in that of health where special efforts are being made to target children with services in hard to reach areas. The agency organized a consultation on indigenous peoples’ and minorities’ issues in April 2009, in which the independent expert participated, as a major step towards providing a broad and interactive orientation into issues affecting minorities and minority children in particular. Senior UNICEF managers, practitioners, and external experts had the objective of identifying a policy framework and ways of 2 6 Available from http://hrbaportal.org/wpcontent/files/1282077542marginalisedminoritiesindevelopment.pdf.