A/HRC/10/38 page 11 minority issues; enhancing inter-agency cooperation to promote the rights of minorities; reducing poverty and exclusion of minorities, for example, by contributing to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and of economic, social and cultural rights; and preventing human rights violations. Some examples of good practices and OHCHR work in the field on minority issues are given below. 36. In 2006, the OHCHR country office in Nepal launched a three-month social inclusion project to map out, and thereby gain an understanding of, the issues facing indigenous peoples and minorities in Nepal. This mapping exercise resulted in a clearer understanding of the kind of intervention OHCHR could undertake for the protection and promotion of the human rights of indigenous peoples and minorities in Nepal. On the basis of conclusions of the project, the Office carried out a number of activities, especially capacity-building and awareness-raising workshops, in cooperation with various local organizations working on indigenous peoples and minority rights and issues. For instance, it organized a workshop with Dalits in the Far West Region to raise their awareness and strengthen their networks. On the basis of interaction with several Dalit organizations and suggestions put forward by them, in November 2008 OHCHR produced a cartoon series on filing a first information report. The objective of the cartoon series was to raise awareness among grass-roots organizations, especially members of Dalits and marginalized communities, about their right to access justice. It served as a tool to enhance their access to the formal justice system. OHCHR observed that its efforts to support and encourage minorities to enjoy and realize their human rights resulted in an increased level of awareness among minorities and an increased willingness on the part of the State to respect and protect the human rights of these communities. For instance, the Government and its agencies have started introducing programmes to facilitate the participation of persons belonging to minorities in public affairs. 37. The OHCHR human rights adviser in Ecuador participated in a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) programme on development and cultural diversity to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion, to promote the revitalization of culture, inclusion and intercultural dialogue in order to bridge the gap of discrimination and social exclusion affecting minorities and disadvantaged groups. The programme contributes to achieving Millennium Development Goals 1, 2, 5 and 7. Its objectives include strengthening intercultural public policy; support for revitalization initiatives in culture and for income-generating activities; and capacity-building for statistical analysis and information on cultural and ethnic diversity. The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa in Yaoundé assisted in the preparation of a study on a possible draft law on marginalized peoples, commissioned by the Government of Cameroon. 38. At the headquarters level, in the period since the submission of the interim report, OHCHR continued to concentrate activities on capacity-building of various actors, such as civil society and OHCHR staff, and on the mainstreaming of minority rights in the work of the United Nations through inter-agency cooperation. The Arabic-speaking component of the minority fellowship programme was held from 1 to 19 December 2008, with the participation of representatives of the following ethnic and religious communities: the Kurd Failiya from Iraq, the Haratin from Mauritania, the Shia Jaafari from Saudi Arabia, the Kurds from the Syrian Arab Republic and the Zaghawa from the Sudan.