ACFC/56DOC(2016)001 avail themselves of independent research, in particular when carried out by persons belonging to national minorities themselves, in order to assess and comprehensively address the particular shortcomings faced by persons belonging to national minorities (see also paragraph 18). 2. Culture – Article 5 67. Article 5 of the Framework Convention and the obligation of states parties to promote the conditions for the preservation and development of national minority cultures and identities are best served if the scope of application is interpreted widely. The article’s aim is to ensure that persons belonging to national minorities do not assimilate but are enabled to maintain and develop their distinct identities and to actively enjoy minority rights. The Advisory Committee has welcomed the availability of assistance schemes not only to recognised national minorities but also to other groups who would otherwise not be able to maintain their distinct features.90 All support measures must be tailored to the specific needs and situations of the various groups, to ensure that the cultural differences that are regarded as specific to each group are affirmed and protected. This may often require targeted efforts by the authorities to revitalise essential elements of the minority culture, without which the expression of some aspects of that identity may not be possible.91 Numerically larger minorities whose cultures are well represented will usually not experience the same reliance on government support as numerically smaller groups or dispersed national minorities which may be struggling to preserve their distinct characteristics and resist assimilation.92 While it is often the cultural associations that are the recipients of funds, the Advisory Committee considers that all national minority representatives, including those not formally linked with such associations or those representing different views, must be consulted and provided with effective opportunities to obtain funding for the preservation of their identities and cultures. 3. Association and religion – Articles 7 and 8 68. The rights to freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of expression, thought and conscience, as well as the right to hold and manifest a religion or belief, as stipulated in Articles 7 and 8 of the Framework Convention, are based on corresponding articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Explanatory Report underlines explicitly that they apply to every person, whether belonging to a national minority or not, but that they are considered of such specific importance to persons belonging to national minorities that they were deemed to merit special attention.93 The Advisory Committee has therefore interpreted their scope of application in the broadest sense, in line with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It has in particular expressed its deep concern when the overall working conditions for non-governmental organisations engaged in the protection of minority rights have been made difficult, as their role in promoting the awareness and understanding of human and minority rights standards in society is crucial 90. See Third Opinions on the Czech Republic and Finland. 91. See Third Opinion on Finland, welcoming the specific efforts of the authorities to revitalise the Sami culture through “language nests” and other similar activities. 92. See, however, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) General Recommendation No. 32 underlining the distinction between permanent rights (such as those contained in Article 5 of the Framework Convention) and the additional and temporary benefits of special measures as provided for in Article 4(2). 93. See paragraphs 51 and 54 of the Explanatory Report. 26