A/HRC/FMI/2011/2 (d) Produce thematic recommendations, to be reported to the Council by the independent expert; (e) Contribute to efforts to improve cooperation among United Nations mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, funds and programmes on activities relating to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including at the regional level. 5. The Forum offers a unique opportunity for engagement and dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders, including States Members of the United Nations, bodies and specialized agencies of the Organization, intergovernmental and regional organizations, and minority representatives and civil society on minority issues, and represents an opportunity for them to exchange experiences with regard to good practices and issues management in the field of minority relations. III. Aims and objectives of the fourth session 6. The fourth session of the Forum will focus on concrete measures and recommendations aimed at guaranteeing the rights of minority women. Building on the work carried out during the first three sessions of the Forum and the recommendations emanating from that work, the fourth session will focus on the rights and opportunities for minority women to have access to education, take part effectively in economic life, have access to labour markets and participate fully in social, cultural and political life. 7. At the fourth session, the Forum will also aim at drawing greater attention to the situation of minority women in the agendas of the various stakeholders working on human rights, minority rights and women’s rights by establishing closer cooperation among them. It will give space to, inter alia, minority women’s rights and feminist movements and networks, and will provide concrete and practical examples to all participants on how to give visibility to the rights of minority women. 8. The Forum will provide participants with opportunities to highlight positive initiatives and good practices for the protection and promotion of the rights of minority women. These will include those relevant to the collection and dissemination of disaggregated statistics and the use of rights-based indicators relevant to minorities, including on the access of minority women to economic opportunities, education and health, political participation and legal remedies. IV. Legal framework 9. Addressing the exclusion of minority women and promoting the enjoyment of their rights rest on three pillars of human rights and minority legal protection: (a) the right to non-discrimination and the obligation to combat both direct and indirect discrimination to ensure the enjoyment of a range of rights; (b) the right to effective participation in decisionmaking; and (c) the need for special measures or affirmative action to address the effects of long-standing and entrenched discrimination on certain minority groups and minority women. 10. The principles of non-discrimination and equality are crucial and form the basis of all core human rights treaties. Non-discrimination applies to everyone in relation to all human rights and freedoms, and prohibits discrimination on the basis of a list of nonexhaustive categories such as sex, race, colour, religion, language, nationality and ethnicity. Many violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights have a basis in discrimination, racism and exclusion on the grounds of the ethnic, religious, linguistic, 3