A/HRC/61/33 Government to take steps to allow for the meaningful participation of minority and marginalized groups in shaping the country’s future.25 27. In relation to the conflict in the Sudan, in October, a group of United Nations human rights experts expressed concern in particular regarding women and girls from ethnic minority groups, who bore the brunt of conflict-related sexual violence.26 28. In December, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues conducted an official visit to Nepal and noted in his end of mission statement the need to close the gap between constitutional and legislative provisions and their meaningful implementation to prohibit discrimination against persons belonging to minorities, including Dalits, effectively. The Special Rapporteur welcomed the draft of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law and encouraged its swift adoption.27 29. Also in December, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance conducted an official visit to Austria. In her end of mission statement, she expressed concern about multiple forms of racism and their impact on minority communities, such as Africans and people of African descent, Jewish people, Muslims, people of Arab descent, Roma, Palestinians, Asians and people of Asian descent. The Special Rapporteur commended Austria for having legal protections and for its measures taken to address discrimination, noting that additional steps were needed to step up anti-racism efforts.28 C. Human rights of Roma communities 30. In the Republic of Moldova, OHCHR continued to strengthen the Roma community mediators’ system in Transnistria, which was first piloted in 2021. By the end of 2025, over 1,900 marginalized Roma living in six Roma-populated localities had gained improved access to human rights and essential public services, such as education, health, social protection, employment, vocational training, child support services, housing and identity documents. With OHCHR support, Roma mediators piloted a contingency fund that facilitated documentation for the most vulnerable Roma families, including refugees from Ukraine, helping them to obtain citizenship and national identity documents for the first time, thereby reducing barriers to services. 31. In March, in its concluding observations on the second periodic report submitted by Montenegro pursuant to the Covenant, the Human Rights Committee noted with concern the continued marginalization of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. While acknowledging some progress, the Committee noted that those groups still faced challenges in access to adequate housing, had limited access to formal employment and recorded low secondary school completion rates. The Committee also highlighted their underrepresentation in political life. It urged Montenegro to intensify efforts to combat discrimination, ensure sustainable integration into the public administration and amend electoral legislation to enhance the political participation of those minority groups. 29 32. In April, OHCHR and partners launched the Romani Memory Map for the Americas, a collective, crowdsourced initiative led by OHCHR in partnership with academic institutions, Romani human rights defenders and civil society organizations. The project is aimed at advancing knowledge of the Romani presence in the Americas and strengthening efforts to memorialize both the positive contributions of Roma to society and the patterns and practices of human rights abuses rooted in antigypsyism. A new call for submissions of proposed memory points for the map was also launched.30 25 26 27 28 29 30 GE.25-21065 A/80/432, paras. 1, 62, 64, 85, 86, 103 (d) (iii) and (e) and 104 (c). See www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/un-experts-demand-urgent-action-protect-civilianssudan-conflict-intensifies. See www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/nepal-un-expert-says-minorities-and-dalits-must-beempowered-fulfill-their. See www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/austria-must-scale-anti-racism-measures-un-expert. CCPR/C/MNE/CO/2, paras. 18 and 19. See www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2025/call-inputs-romani-memory-map-americas. 7