A/HRC/55/35 realization of economic, social and other rights with a particular focus on the most vulnerable and minority groups. 46. In November, OHCHR participated in a round table entitled “Promoting conflict prevention through the socioeconomic inclusion of minorities”, organized jointly by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. The purpose of the round table, dedicated to the recent launch by the OSCE High Commissioner of the Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life, was to address the effective participation of minorities in social and economic life as a key strategy for conflict prevention. 47. The topic of the sixteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, held in Geneva from 30 November to 1 December, was “Minorities and cohesive societies: equality, social inclusion and socioeconomic participation”.53 The aim of the Forum was to tackle multiple challenges faced by minority communities worldwide, with a focus on strengthening their socioeconomic participation and ensuring equality and social inclusion. The Forum identified and analysed opportunities, practices and initiatives to strengthen the inclusion of minorities in line with the principles and rights enshrined in the Declaration and other relevant international instruments. 48. During the sixteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, OHCHR held a side event entitled “Comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation: a remedy for overcoming exclusion and giving a voice to minorities”. The side event aimed to give visibility to the Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation, 54 demonstrating how it could support advocacy against multiple forms of discrimination, including descent-based discrimination, and to what could be done to achieve more cohesive societies through social justice. The side event provided practical examples that could assist parliamentarians, policymakers and advocates in supporting and developing anti-discrimination legislation consistent with international human rights law standards. 49. In its concluding observations on Namibia, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern that, according to the recent data on multidimensional poverty provided by the Namibia Statistics Agency, members of the Khoisan and Otjiherero language groups experienced double the poverty levels of communities whose main language was European. The Committee also expressed concern that the country’s development policies and programmes did not effectively address the disparate socioeconomic levels of different ethnic groups or take into account the adverse impact of intersecting forms of discrimination on the enjoyment of economic and social rights. The Committee recommended that Namibia collect disaggregated information to compare progress from special measures to eliminate disparities, and that it adopt a gender-sensitive approach in combating intersecting forms of discrimination. 55 I. Empowerment and participation 50. As an integral part of the work of OHCHR on mainstreaming minority issues and on capacity-building for minority rights advocates, the annual Minorities Fellowship Programme (1 November–1 December 2023) – made up of three linguistic components, in English, Russian and Arabic – provided 14 women and 11 men from 22 countries with an in-depth knowledge of the United Nations human rights machinery and reinforced their advocacy skills to better use international human rights standards and mechanisms. Among the key highlights in 2023 was a one-week preparatory training course in Strasbourg, France, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law of the University of Strasbourg, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights, held with a view to providing fellows with a regional perspective and a complementary exposure to the promotion and protection of minority rights using the European regional framework on human rights. Six senior fellows, 53 54 55 GE.23-26212 See https://www.ohchr.org/en/events/forums/2023/sixteenth-session-forum-minority-issues. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/policy-and-methodological-publications/protectingminority-rights-practical-guide. CERD/C/NAM/CO/16-18, paras. 20 and 21. 11