A/HRC/19/71 minority participation, with a specific focus on minority women’s participation and their equal and meaningful representation in political life at all levels should be considered. 66. Obstacles preventing the effective political participation of minority women should be identified and addressed through laws, policy and programme measures. 67. Literacy, language or religious or other requirements that unfairly or disproportionally exclude minority women from the right to vote or from standing for elected office at the national, regional or local level should be removed, given that they breach the prohibition of discrimination and result in women belonging to minorities not being able to effectively participate in political life. Governments should develop mechanisms to tackle the root causes of such exclusion. 68. Governments should intensify their efforts to ensure fair and adequate participation of all minority women in political life and public service. They should elaborate innovative initiatives and tailored measures aimed at increasing and strengthening minority women’s representation and participation, including, for example, support for women’s committees, leadership training initiatives, mentoring programmes, awareness-raising campaigns, networking and the sharing of good practices. Such measures should also aim at ensuring that women who have a role in decision-making bodies are able to play that role effectively, namely, that they know and understand their duties, are not discriminated against or prevented from carrying out those duties because of prejudice, do not face any backlash or violence for taking up those roles and are not given positions as a token gesture. 69. Parliamentary groups and committees of both minorities and minority women should be encouraged and supported, including through experience-sharing and capacitybuilding. 70. The Inter-Parliamentary Union is encouraged to continue to promote the representation and participation of minority women in parliaments and political life, and to specifically address the challenges facing minority women in this regard. 71. Central Governments should encourage the representation of minority women in local governments and provide them with opportunities to build their leadership skills once they gain seats. Minority women who become community leaders should be supported and promoted to become positive role models in their community and to educate society at large about the issues relevant to its minority groups. 72. Local governments and minority communities themselves should also empower and encourage young women members of minority communities to engage in the political life of their localities. 2. Political parties 73. Political parties should be aware of the diversity of the society and/or communities that they represent and take concrete steps, including adopting a policy statement to recognize the importance of reflecting such diversity. Parties should develop strategies to increase the level of minority women’s participation with specific targets, including by ensuring gender-balanced representation within their ranks. 74. Political parties and legislatures can consider adopting quotas or other measures to increase participation of women, including those belonging to minorities. In their efforts to reach out to the minority groups within their constituencies, they should make sure that they are also reaching out to the women in these groups and that they cultivate minority women’s engagement. Such efforts should include holding meetings in the regions where minorities live, seeking views of minority women within those groups, promoting them to leadership roles and engaging with minority and women’s organizations. 13