Accepted  general  recommendations  were:  to  adopt  and  implement  firmly  all  necessary   measures  to  improve  and  ensure  respect  of  the  rights  of  people  belonging  to  minorities   (from  Switzerland);  to  redouble  efforts  for  the  effective  implementation  of  criminal   provisions  relating  to  acts  of  ethnic  discrimination  against  persons  belonging  to  minority   groups  (from  Mexico);  to  take  more  resolute  action  to  prevent  and  punish  perpetrators   of  racially  motivated  acts  and  propaganda  that  targeted  ethnic  minorities  and  foreigners   (from  Malaysia);  to  develop  effective  measures  to  overcome  continuing  discriminatory   patterns  against  ethnic  minorities  and  others  through  education  and  training  (from   Spain);  to  evaluate  the  need  for  tuition  in  a  special  school  on  the  basis  of  the  child's   personal  characteristics,  not  on  his  or  her  ethnicity  (from  Finland);  and  to  fully  respect   all  international  obligations  by  accepting  the  legally  binding  United  Nations  documents   and  by  respecting  the  decisions  of  the  other  United  Nations  bodies  and  other   organizations  at  the  national  level  in  regard  to  minority  rights  (from  Macedonia  FYR).       One  specific  recommendation  was  on  religious  minorities:  to  take  necessary  measures   to  ensure  that  local  authorities  respect  the  religious  freedom  of  minority  religious   groups  and  treat  all  religious  groups  equally  (from  the  United  States).  Another  specific   recommendation  was  to  promote  the  identity  of  the  Armenian  minority  by  further   addressing  its  educational,  religious  and  cultural  needs  (from  Armenia).       The  rest  were  focusing  on  the  situation  of  Roma:  to  continue  to  give  political  attention,   commitment  and  concrete  action;  strengthen  the  implementation  of  policies  and   programmes  focused  on  the  inclusion  of  Roma;  fully  ensure  the  enjoyment  of  human   rights  by  Roma;  combat  discrimination  and  violence;  guarantee  access  to  basic  health   and  social  services,  education,  housing  and  employment;  ensure  that  due  consideration   is  given  in  all  policymaking  processes  to  the  impact  on  Roma  of  proposed  legislation;   ensure  necessary  resources  to  facilitate  the  implementation  of  programs;  and  to  use   more  actively  existing  or  new  platforms  for  involving  the  Roma  community  in  policy   formulation  and  implementation  at  both  the  local  and  central  levels  (from  Slovakia,   Canada,  Morocco,  Denmark,  Spain,  the  Netherlands).  Several  recommendations   addressed  Roma  children  in  particular:  to  set  up  a  policy  specifically  aimed  at  reducing   the  number  of  Roma  children  placed  without  valid  reasons  in  establishments  for   children  with  disabilities  or  in  rehabilitation  centres  (from  Canada);  to  ensure  that  Roma   children  are  not  sent  to  special  schools  for  the  disabled,  but  instead  are  schooled   together  with  other  Bulgarian  children  (from  Finland);  to  avoid  the  practice  of  the  school   segregation  of  Roma  children,  for  example  with  primary  school  teachers,  who  are   speaking  their  mother  tongue,  with  the  objective  of  achieving  an  effective  learning  of   the  Bulgarian  language  and  other  subjects  taught  (from  Spain);  to  communicate  more   efficiently  to  Roma  parents  the  importance  of  literacy  and  the  positive  effect  of   education  on  the  children's  future  by  using  the  help  of  school  assistants  with  a  Romani   background  and  guarantee  that  the  implementation  of  the  law  on  compulsory  preschool   education  for  all  children  covers  the  Roma  as  well  as  other  minorities  (from  Finland).   One  recommendation  was  to  strengthen  awareness-­‐raising  campaigns  aimed  at   preventing  human  trafficking  and  increase  the  protection  provided  to  victims,  notably   42  

Select target paragraph3