A/78/306 IV. Activities undertaken by relevant United Nations human rights mechanisms to ensure the realization of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities A. Special Rapporteur on minority issues 49. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues used the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration as an opportunity to bring out the voices of minorities and mainstream protection of their rights within the United Nations system. The Special Rapporteur had repeatedly brought attention to the content of the Declaration and the importance attached to its implementation. More recently, the Special R apporteur had expressed alarm at the increase in hate crime and hate speech motivated by racism, xenophobia or intolerance, and directed at people belonging to minority communities. He recalled that victims of genocide were often firstly targets of hate sp eech, discrimination and violence. The Special Rapporteur also noted that minorities worldwide were scapegoated and increasingly subjected to discriminatory treatment. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur insisted on the need for a treaty to provide clarity and guidance to better address minority rights issues (see A/HRC/52/27, paras. 64–65). 50. In his report to the Human Rights Council in 2023 ( A/HRC/52/27), the Special Rapporteur provided an overview of his activities marking the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration and assessed the state of the implementation of the Declaration. He found that little or no significant institutional dev elopment had taken place at the United Nations to benefit the protection of minorities when compared with other groups in need of protection. Recommendations in his report include proposals for States to begin work on a legally binding instrument on the pr otection of the rights of minorities; for the consolidation under United Nations auspices of the regional forums on minorities; and for the creation of a permanent forum and voluntary fund for minorities at the United Nations. B. Forum on Minority Issues 51. The Forum on Minority Issues is mandated to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and to provide thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Special Rapporteur. The Special Rapporteur guides the work of the Forum. 23 The two-day annual session of the Forum provides a platform for minorities to hold open discussions about what can be done to eliminate obstacles preventing them from enjoying their human rights. The fifteenth session of the Forum, held in Geneva on 1 and 2 December 2022, in the year marking the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration, was on the theme “Review, rethink, reform” and focused on questions relating to the implementation of the Declaration in responding to new challenges and to the mainstreaming of minority rights not only into national and regional normative frameworks but also in the United Nations system. 24 52. The annual session was preceded by regional forums, which offered regionspecific context on the constraints minorities face in securing their rights. Organized in cooperation with the Tom Lantos Institute, as well as regional and international organizations and non-governmental organizations, the four regional forums, for Europe and Central Asia, Asia and the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, and the __________________ 23 24 23-15674 See www.ohchr.org/en/hrc-subsidiary-bodies/minority-issues-forum. See www.ohchr.org/en/events/forums/2022/fifteenth-session-forum-minority-issues. 13/17