35 Recognizing further that minorities are equal members of society with the right to be different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such, Recalling UN General Assembly resolution 217 (III) C of 10 December 1948 on the International Bill of Human Rights which proclaims that “the United Nations cannot remain indifferent to the fate of minorities”, Recalling the relevant provisions in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in Education, the 2001 UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Cognisant of the ongoing work on a United Nations Declaration on the promotion, protection and full respect of the human rights of people of African Descent by the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent, the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and the Working Group of Experts on People of African descent pursuant A/RES/76/226 of December 2021, Recalling the draft of the United Nations Principles and Guidelines for the Effective Elimination of Discrimination Based on Work and Descent, and how they are yet to be adopted despite being formulated in 2009 Concerned that, despite the existence of various international human rights instruments and undertakings, persons belonging to minorities continue to face barriers in their participation as equal members of society and violations of their human rights in all parts of the world, Recognising that persons belonging to a national or ethnic, religious or belief and linguistic minority have rights as communities, Considering that the recognition of the rights of persons belonging to a national or ethnic, religious or belief, and linguistic minority within a state and the international protection of those rights, are integral in preventing and putting an end to national or ethnic, religious or belief, and linguistic tensions and conflicts, and thus of helping to guarantee justice, democracy, stability, development and peace in the world; Considering that persons belonging to minorities shall have the opportunity to be actively and effectively involved in decision-making processes about policies and programmes, including those directly concerning them, without discrimination, Recognizing that there are many countries in the world who continue to contend with the need for achieving a just accommodation of ethno-cultural diversity for ending conditions of marginalization and exclusion and the tension and conflicts that such conditions trigger;