- - - - The central role to be played by national human rights institutions in promoting minority rights, including through the mainstreaming of minority issues in human rights education outreach; The crucial role played by the education system, incorporating minority sensitive intercultural education, in shaping attitudes towards a more pluralistic society and in addressing stereotypes and social exclusion; The need to ensure access to education in minority languages; The need to ensure that persons belonging to minorities are aware of their rights and receive the support that they need to be able to exercise them; The need to develop programmes to promote multiculturalism, support integration of newcomers and foster social cohesion as well as initiatives that foster intercultural and interfaith understanding, promote active citizenship, and instil civic memory and pride; The possibility to create a nationwide interfaith network to serve as a forum for promoting inter-religious discussion. Item V. Challenges and problems encountered in the practical implementation of the Declaration This session focused on existing challenges and problems that have been encountered and persist in implementing the Declaration in practice, and by different stakeholders at all levels. Ms. Leydi Pérez Venté, advocate from the Universidad Santiago de Cali in Colombia, presented on the “Reality of ethnic rights in Afro black people facing the Declaration on the rights of minorities, 20 years later”. She first indicated that the broad legal framework does not translate into minority rights protection on the ground, in particular in relation to the situation of Afro-Colombians who continue to face racism and discrimination, as well as difficulties in access to education and employment, both in public bodies and in the private sector. She underlined the existing challenges faced by some minority communities in relation to the exploitation of natural resources such as precious metals, including in relation to its impact on the environment. She concluded with a few recommendations, including to disseminate the Declaration in regions where ethnic minorities live through ethnic education and Afro-Colombian Studies as a mechanism for reducing racial discrimination, to encourage and support strategies that promote the participation of young minority women and children, to enable inclusion and generational change in political spaces and decision making as a strategy for ensuring social inclusion and, finally, to adopt a public policy of access to employment for ethnic minorities. Mr Melakou Tegegn, Executive Director of the Panos Eastern Africa’s Regional Office, presented on “Minorities and the African Context” underlining that there is a serious lack of awareness of the Declaration in most African States, pointing to the need for a shift in orientation of Governments to include a minority-rights based approach that is currently lacking for various reasons, and finally the need to strengthen civil society and give them more space to advocate for minority rights and raise awareness of minority issues within society. 12