A/74/215 Moreover, the treaty bodies have increasingly affirmed the taking of an intersectional approach to combating discrimination in the field of protection of the rights of minority groups, given the compounding effects of additional grounds of discrimination, such as gender, age and disability. 3 9. The right to effective participation enshrined in the Declaration ensures that minority groups have: the right to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life (article 2 (2)); the right to participate in decision -making that affects them (article 2 (3)); and the right to participate in and to form their own associations freely, including across borders (articles 2 (4) and 2 (5)). The Declaration expands on the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs, set out in article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, by recognizing that persons belonging to minority groups have the right to participate effectively in decisions on the national and, where appropriate, regional level concerning the minority to which they belong or the regions in which they live (article 2 (3)). In addition, the Declaration provides that national policies and programmes shall be planned and implemented with due regard for the legitimate interests of persons belonging to minority groups (article 5 (1)). To that end, States also have obligations to consider appropriate measures so that persons belonging to minority groups may participate fully in the economic progress and development in their country (article 4 (5)). Furthermore, in 2018, as requested by the Human Rights Council, OHCHR issued draft guidelines for States on the effective implementation of the right to participate in public affairs (A/HRC/39/28). The guidelines were drafted following a wide global consultation process and contain an outline of the basic principles of the right to effective participation, in both electoral and non -electoral contexts and at the international level. 10. Some key norms and standards that are reflected in the Declaration, however, are not elaborated in sufficient detail in the legally binding international human rights treaties and the optional protocols thereto. Those gaps include the norms and standards in articles 1 (1) (States protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities), 2 (3) (right of minorities to participate in decision-making), 4 (3) (right to learn or have instruction in one ’s mother tongue), 4 (4) (States encourage knowledge of history, traditions, language and culture of minority groups) and 5 (1) (national policies and programmes for minority groups are implemented by States) of the Declaration. 11. There are a number of United Nations human rights mechanisms that address minority rights. The Declaration is the focus of annual dialogue within the Forum on Minority Issues, which is a thematically focused assembly, meeting for a two -day session annually, that is mandated, inter alia, to identify and analyse best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for implementation of the Declaration (see Human Rights Council resolution 6/15). Several special procedures of the Human Rights Council also address minority rights; principal among them is the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, in addition to the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. Countryspecific special procedures also frequently address minority rights. For example, the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent addresses the rights of minorities of African descent. The United Nations human rights treaty bodies review __________________ 3 4/15 See Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination; and Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 28 (2010) on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention. 19-12558