A/74/215 State parties’ compliance with treaty obligations, including non-discrimination and minority rights provisions, as stipulated under each international human rights treaty. The treaty bodies have also adopted several general comments and recommendations directly concerning minority groups. 12. The United Nations Network on Racial Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities serves as a focal point for implementing the recommendations contained in the Secretary-General’s guidance note on racial discrimination and protection of minorities. Coordinated by OHCHR, the Network brings together over 20 departments, agencies, funds and programmes, all of which have identified focal points for that purpose. The Network also plays a role in supporting United Nations country teams with the implementation of the guidance note. The Network developed a guidance tool in 2017 on descent-based discrimination and the key challenges and strategic approaches to combating caste-based discrimination and analogous forms of discrimination. The guidance tool helps States parties to implement general recommendation No. 29 (2002) on descent in the context of article 1 (1) of the Convention, of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discr imination, and serves to bring awareness to the draft United Nations principles and guidelines for the effective elimination of discrimination based on work and descent. The guidance tool can also be applied in developing national action plans on addressin g caste-based and analogous forms of discrimination, with the effective participation of affected communities. It can also be used to deepen knowledge on that form of discrimination across the institutional framework in the context of training and other in itiatives. During the reporting period, the guidance tool was used in various activities addressing descent-based discrimination organized in Nepal, Senegal and Japan. 13. Concerned with increased divisions between communities, as well as growing economic and social inequality around the world, including efforts directed at racial, national, ethnic and religious communities, migrants and refugees, women and sexual identity groups, on 22 May 2019, the United Nations adopted a strategy and plan of action on combating hate speech, with the objectives to enhance efforts to address root causes and drivers of hate speech and to enable effective responses to hate speech and its impact on societies. Tackling hate speech is also crucial to deepening progress across the United Nations agenda by helping to prevent armed conflict, atrocity crimes and terrorism, end violence against women and promote peaceful, inclusive and just societies. As a menace to democratic values, social stability and peace, and as a matter of principle, hate speech must be confronted by the United Nations at every turn. Silence can signal indifference to bigotry and intolerance, even as a situation escalates and the vulnerable become victims, as noted by the Secretary General in the foreword to the strategy and plan of action. 2. Human rights treaty bodies 14. In the United Nations human rights architecture, the human rights treaty bodies 4 are involved in the progressive development of human rights law through the interpretation of legally binding international human rights treaties. They do so through the consideration of individual communications and the periodic review of reports of States parties to the conventions. The concluding observations issued by the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women during the period 2014–2018 indicate that those five treaty bodies regularly refer to minority issues. 5 __________________ 4 5 19-12558 For more information, see www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/Pages/HumanRightsBodies.aspx. See https://uhri.ohchr.org. 5/15