A/HRC/52/53 Inter-American Court of Human Rights 4 and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.5 7. The thirtieth anniversary has provided an opportunity to examine progress achieved under the Declaration and to consider implementation challenges, while bringing more awareness to its contents and to minority rights. For example, during the high-level meeting convened on 21 September 2022 by the President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, and organized by his office and OHCHR pursuant to General Assembly resolution 76/168, Member States themselves recognized that they were falling behind in their commitments with regard to the protection of the rights of minorities. There were also calls by Member States for better national frameworks that could contribute to strengthened implementation of the Declaration and to the advancement of political and social stability, sustainable development and conflict prevention. 8. At the high-level meeting, the Secretary-General affirmed that the protection of minorities was integral to the mission of the United Nations and that the promotion of minority rights was vital to advancing political and social stability and preventing conflict within and between countries.6 The President of the General Assembly echoed that, noting that the Declaration was more relevant than ever before.7 The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights emphasized that the Declaration provided the global minority rights framework, but that progress in implementation had stalled and even regressed in some cases. She also emphasized that Member State and multilateral action was urgently needed to raise the priority of minority rights on the global agenda, and noted that the United Nations system itself needed to step up and take joint action, anchored in the Secretary General’s call to action for human rights and his report entitled “Our Common Agenda”.8 9. In May 2022, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement highlighting the Declaration’s guidance for States on protecting and promoting minorities’ human rights, while lamenting how minorities remained systematically excluded from participating in decision-making around issues that directly affected them. She underscored that the Declaration’s anniversary should stand as a stark reminder for the whole international community that they could do more to protect minority rights.9 10. In his 2022 report to the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur on minority rights called for a renewed approach, recommending, among other things, that minority rights be mainstreamed within the work of the United Nations, that a treaty on minority rights be developed and that an international year or decade for minorities be established. He also recommended that minorities be included in documents and activities surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals, that a United Nations voluntary fund be created and that a permanent forum for minorities be established.10 11. Ahead of the fifteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, held on 1 and 2 December 2022, and pursuant to General Assembly resolution 74/165, regional forums were convened by the Special Rapporteur on minority rights in coordination with the Tom Lantos Institute, in order to put a spotlight on crucial gaps and to ensure that minority issues and rights of minorities were mainstreamed into the agenda of the United Nation more concretely.11 Participants at each regional forum commemorated the thirtieth anniversary, 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 GE.22-29200 Xákmok Kásek Indigenous Community v. Paraguay, Judgment, 24 August 2010. African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic of Kenya, Application No. 6/2012, Judgment, 26 May 2017. See https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2022-09-21/secretary-generals-remarks-the-highlevel-meeting-the-30th-anniversary-of-the-adoption-of-the-declaration-rights-of-persons-belongingnational-or-ethnic-religious-and. See https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1s/k1sd1c79hy. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/09/assistant-secretary-general-ilze-brands-kehrisstatement-high-level-meeting. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/05/30th-anniversary-marks-landmark-moment-minorityrights. A/77/246, paras. 71–78. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/minorities/forums/2022-0721/CN2022_Eng.pdf. 3