United Nations
General Assembly
A/HRC/34/53/Add.2
Distr.: General
11 January 2017
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Thirty-forth session
27 February-24 March 2017
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues on her
mission to the Republic of Moldova
Note by the Secretariat
The Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, conducted an official
visit to the Republic of Moldova from 20 to 29 June 2016.
The Republic of Moldova is a multi-ethnic, multireligious and multicultural society
with a considerable legal framework for the protection of minority rights; nevertheless, the
lack of institutional attention and dedicated budget provisions, compounded by the recent
economic crisis, remain major obstacles for its proper implementation.
The Special Rapporteur observed that language issues, especially in the context of
education, featured prominently in the consultations held. The use of mother tongue is
highly important and emotive for many communities and an essential aspect of personal
and community identity. Concerns regarding poor quality of State language education in
minority language schools were universally voiced.
Consultations with religious minorities showed that in most of the country peaceful
interreligious relations prevail, although some incidents of racial profiling and religious
motivated attacks against Muslim and Jewish communities were reported. It was further
noted that the media does not seem to reflect the diversity inherent to the country and in
some instances propagates negative and demeaning stereotypes about some minority
groups, in particular Muslim and Roma communities.
Roma communities continue to experience entrenched economic, social and political
marginalization and are often victims of discrimination, particularly when gaining access to
the labour market, education and health-care services.
GE.17-00410(E)