A/HRC/40/64/Add.1 8. Slovenia is not hugely diverse when compared to many other countries; ethnically, religiously and linguistically, Catholics and Slovenes constitute, according to the most recent census data (collected in 2002) the clear majority. The largest religious minorities are Muslims (2.4 per cent) and Orthodox (2.3 per cent); the largest three ethnic minorities are Serbs (2 per cent), Croats (1.8 per cent) and Bosniaks (1.1 per cent). Ethnic Slovenes represent 83.1 per cent of the entire population. No disaggregated population data have been collected since 2002. IV. Legal and institutional framework A. International framework 9. Slovenia is a party to numerous human rights treaties of particular relevance to the protection of the human rights of minorities, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention against Discrimination in Education of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Slovenia has also extended a standing invitation to the special procedures of the Human Rights Council. It is a member of the Council of Europe and has ratified both the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. B. Constitutional and legislative framework 10. The Constitution of 1991 guarantees a wide range of human rights and freedoms, including its provision on the prohibition of discrimination that conforms with the general international approach, and even the right to water, which Slovenia declared in 2016, thereby becoming the first European State to do so. The Constitution also provides for an ombudsman responsible for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in relation to State authorities, local authorities and persons in public office. 11. Slovenia has a three-tiered framework for the protection of the human rights of minorities. At its apex are two “autochthonous national communities” (Hungarians and Italians) recognized in the post-independence Constitution of 1991. 12. The status of the above-mentioned autochthonous communities is not based on the number of their members, but is rather a response to historical and bilateral factors. Article 64 of the Constitution and other legislative measures guarantee these communities extensive rights within specific territories in the form of self-government, including the right to education in their own language, the right to establish autonomous organizations and the right to be directly represented at the local level and in the National Assembly. The specific rights provided for by the Constitution for the Hungarian and Italian communities may not be adopted without the consent of representatives of these groups, which are considered “autochthonous national communities”. These minorities are thus afforded a widely recognized, high level of protection. Although a number of legislative and other changes have been made in recent years, both the Hungarian and the Italian minorities have aged and declined, and have had access to decreasing resources. Their numbers have decreased by almost half since the 1950s. In the census conducted in 2002, only 7,713 people declared the Hungarian language as their mother tongue, while 3,762 did so for Italian. 13. The second level of minority rights is limited to “autochthonous” Roma who have, according to article 65 of the Constitution, “special rights regulated by law” subsequently elaborated in the 2007 Roma Community Act. While those rights are not as extensive as those recognized for the Hungarian and Italian communities, Slovenia was still the first State in Europe to adopt such a law dedicated to advancing the rights of Roma. In recent years, significant efforts have been made by Slovenian authorities through a range of 4