A/HRC/61/33 Academic Action Alliance, 9 a network of university institutions committed to advancing equality law reform at the national level. The Alliance was developed following extensive consultations with academic researchers and law professors in 2024 and 2025 and in follow up to the publication of the Practical Guide. 11. Since 2022, OHCHR has organized the International Contest for Minority Artists annually, in partnership with Freemuse, Minority Rights Group, the City of Geneva and the International School of Geneva. 10 The contest is aimed at supporting minority artists worldwide who are actively engaged in defending human rights. The fourth edition of the contest was held in 2025 on the theme “Belonging, place and loss”. In November, the laureates visited Geneva for a week of activities on art and human rights, including an awards ceremony and participation in the Forum on Minority Issues. Their work was showcased in a six-week public exhibition hosted at the International School of Geneva. 12. In the Central African Republic, OHCHR continued providing technical and financial support during the reporting period to the Consortium on Minorities and the Fight against Discrimination, a civil society coalition focused on strengthening member capacities in minority rights protection, data collection, monitoring and reporting. Those efforts led to the development by the Consortium of a joint advocacy report addressed to national authorities and their partners and a strategic action plan. OHCHR also supported the High Authority for Good Governance in reinforcing its mandate to promote transparency, equity and the protection of vulnerable and minority groups, with a focus on underrepresented communities, such as the Fulani and Pygmy peoples and persons with albinism. 13. The OHCHR Regional Office for Europe enhanced the capacity of 20 staff members from 13 equality bodies in European Union member States to engage effectively with United Nations human rights mechanisms and to record human rights violations for the purposes of generating evidence through indicators, in line with the Council of the European Union Directive on standards for equality bodies. 14. In June, amendments to the legislation on citizenship were adopted in Ukraine. The amendments permit multiple citizenships and update the rules on acquisition and loss of Ukrainian citizenship. At the draft stages of the legislation, OHCHR, through the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, raised concerns that certain provisions risked depriving residents of occupied territory of their Ukrainian citizenship. The final version addressed that concern by explicitly providing that the acquisition of citizenship of the Russian Federation in occupied territory was not to be considered “voluntary”.11 15. In September, in his statement at the High-Level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar, the High Commissioner warned that the situation of minorities, in particular the Rohingya, had reached unprecedented levels of suffering and insecurity, especially in Rakhine State. Other minority groups, such as the ethnic Rakhine, Mro, Maramagyi, Hindu and Kaman, had also been severely affected by the escalating conflict. The High Commissioner called for urgent international action, stressing that peace efforts needed to address the root causes of the conflict, including the persecution of the Rohingya and other minorities that had entrenched divisions and fuelled conflict for decades across Myanmar.12 B. Activities of United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms 16. In 2025, the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review adopted reports on 41 countries and issued recommendations on minority rights for the majority of those reviewed. The recommendations included the following: to accelerate the process for the adoption of comprehensive legislation to protect minority communities and effectively 9 10 11 12 4 See www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/minorities/brochure-alliance-october2025.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/en/minorities/minority-artists-voice-and-dissidence. See www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/ukraine/a-hrc-61-crp3.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/09/high-commissioner-turk-rohingyaconference-international-community. GE.25-21065