A/HRC/16/39 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 13/12, in which the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to present an annual report to the Council containing information on relevant developments in the work of United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms, as well as on the activities undertaken by the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), at Headquarters and in the field, that contribute to the promotion of and respect for the provisions of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. 2. In her first report submitted on the basis of this new mandate (A/HRC/15/42), the High Commissioner provided a summary of the main activities undertaken in the course of 2009 and during the first part of 2010. The present report, which will be submitted to the Human Rights Council at the same session as the report of the independent expert on minority issues and the report on the third session of the Forum on Minority Issues, complements the first report and covers the activities conducted during the remaining part of 2010. 3. The present report, like the previous one, describes the efforts made by OHCHR and the United Nations human rights machinery to strengthen the implementation of the provisions contained in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. Adopted in 1992 by consensus by the General Assembly, the Declaration, in its preamble, states that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities contribute to the political and social stability of the States in which they live. The Declaration also provides details pertaining to, inter alia, minorities and the protection of their existence and of their identity, the exercise of rights without discrimination, and the right to effective participation in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life. The Declaration also includes types of measures that could be taken by States to create conditions to achieve the rights listed under the Declaration. 4. In addition to the Declaration, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child offer essential treaty norms in the protection of the rights of minorities. Article 27 of the International Covenant provides that “[i]n those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language”. Article 30 of the Convention stipulates that, “in those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.” 5. Other universal instruments providing for equality and the prohibition of discrimination also contribute to the implementation of the rights of minorities. These instruments include the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 2.2) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 1). The activities summarized in the report as guided by the implementation of applicable human rights standards reveal that special efforts have been made by OHCHR, the independent expert on minority issues, the Forum on Minority issues, other special procedures mechanisms and treaty bodies to contribute to the promotion and protection of the right of persons belonging to minorities, inspired also by 3