Preventing and addressing violence and atrocity crimes targeted against minorities. Seventh UN Forum on Minority Issues, Geneva 25th November 2014. CERD Remarks Overview Panel At the outset I commend the Forum and all associated with it, especially participants whose life experiences have framed its recommendations. Over the past seven years this event, championed initially by Gay McDougal as Special Rapporteur and reinforced by Rita Iszak, her successor, has become an established global focal point for minority concerns. The UN Declaration on Minority Rights, and the Responsibilities to Protect Framework clearly outline four pillars of minority rights protection and three responsibilities to protect pillars. These are important informants of the work of Treaty Bodies including the Committee Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Issues of minority protection are of central importance for the work of CERD and are addressed on an ongoing basis both through Special Procedures and through the state reporting processes. CERD has a long established Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure which seeks to find possible measures to prevent, as well as respond more effectively to, violations of the Convention. The Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure focuses on concrete implementable and action-oriented measures. Since 1994, and with revised guidelines since 2007, CERD has issued statements, sent letters to state parties and regional organisations, and adopted decisions - including one on Iraq during the August session as part of this procedure. Letters were previously sent to the EU and the Council of Europe regarding the situation of Roma in Europe in 2010. This Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure can be an important tool for alerting the international community, to prevent existing problems from escalating into conflicts and to prevent, or limit, the scale of serious violations of the Convention. In practice, a five person working group of the Committee advises the Committee using nine indicators from the revised guidelines including;