Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities

A/HRC/RES/55/15View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2024.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2010–2024

2024A/HRC/RES/55/15Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minoritiesLatestCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/49/14Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minoritiesCompare with previous version
2018A/HRC/RES/37/14Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minoritiesCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/31/13Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minoritiesCompare with previous version
2013A/HRC/RES/22/4Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minoritiesCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 topics

Anti-Discrimination Measures Human Rights Human Rights Policy Minorities Social Integration

What does this mandate say?

34 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, his report on the recommendations of the Forum on Minority Issues at its sixteenth session and the report submitted by the previous mandate holder to the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session;

Notes the completion, in December 2023, of the sixteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, on the theme “Minorities and cohesive societies: equality, social inclusion and socioeconomic participation”, which, through the widespread participation of stakeholders, provided an important platform for promoting dialogue on that topic, and encourages States to take into consideration the relevant recommendations of the Forum;

Welcomes the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Commends the Special Rapporteur on minority issues for his work and for the important role that he has played in raising awareness of and in giving added visibility to the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and for his guiding role in the preparation and work of the Forum on Minority Issues, which contributes to efforts to improve cooperation among all United Nations mechanisms relating to the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Calls upon States to undertake initiatives to ensure that persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are aware of and able to exercise their rights as set out in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and in other international human rights commitments as well as obligations, and recommends that all measures taken with a view to implementing the Declaration be, to the fullest extent possible, developed, designed, implemented and reviewed with the full, effective and equal participation of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Urges States, while bearing in mind the theme of the sixteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues and with a view to enhancing the implementation of the Declaration and to ensuring the full enjoyment of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, to take appropriate measures by, inter alia:

Considering ratifying and acceding and adhering to relevant international and regional human rights instruments that protect and promote the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Promoting the inclusion and meaningful participation of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities as a means of recognizing and valuing diversity in society and as key components of promoting social cohesion, promoting their right to enjoy their own cultures and recognizing their unique contributions;

Redoubling efforts to prevent and end statelessness among persons belonging to ethnic or national, religious and linguistic minorities, free from discrimination, including through the promotion of the right to nationality;

Encouraging conditions for the promotion of the identity of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities by providing them with, inter alia, equal access to quality education;

Developing inclusive education systems, including for vocational training, to ensure equal access for everyone to opportunities to acquire skills for meaningful participation, without discrimination, in all aspects of the political, economic, social, religious and cultural life of society and in the economic progress and development of their country, applying a gender perspective while doing so;

Adopting legislation, policies and programmes to address discrimination against and the exclusion of women and girls belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, support their empowerment, facilitate gender equality and strengthen communities;

Recognizing the importance of and fostering the economic inclusion of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities for social stability and for the full realization of the rights to education, to work, to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, to an adequate standard of living and to participation in public life, without discrimination, while respecting their cultural diversity;

Conducting linguistically and culturally relevant outreach campaigns and capacity-building activities to ensure the enjoyment of the rights by all persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Encouraging the development of inclusive policies to address root causes such as poverty, inequality and discrimination, and the enhancement of infrastructure to ensure that basic amenities are accessible to all without discrimination;

Collecting reliable and, as applicable, disaggregated data to better understand and evaluate the impact of discrimination and challenges relating to the social inclusion and the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Advancing the adoption and implementation of comprehensive anti-discrimination laws and developing and implementing effective anti-discrimination measures and policies in order to effectively eliminate all forms of discrimination against persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and strengthen advocacy against discrimination;

Creating a safe and enabling environment for civil society representatives, lawyers, journalists and media workers, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders working on the human rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including in armed conflict;

Strongly condemning any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, and adopting and implementing measures to criminalize incitement to imminent violence based on nationality, race, religion or belief, both online and offline, while respecting all internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including women, youth and persons with disabilities, at all levels of decision-making and implementation of conflict prevention and resolution, mediation, post-conflict reconstruction, peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding;

Promoting the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and relevant resolutions of United Nations bodies, including on situations of armed conflict;

Collecting reliable and, as applicable, disaggregated data to establish and evaluate the impact of ongoing violence on persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including the number of persons killed, injured, deprived of their liberty or displaced, or subjected to sexual and gender-based violence;

Ensuring that those responsible for human rights violations and abuses against persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are held accountable, that root causes are investigated and addressed and that victims have access to adequate remedies and assistance;

Developing reconciliation and remembrance policies based on inclusive dialogue that address past violence against and oppression of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities as a means for social inclusion;

Enabling intercultural and interreligious dialogue for the recognition and promotion of and respect for diversity, including as a critical tool for fostering mutual understanding and the promotion of peace, sustainable development, peaceful coexistence, conflict prevention and reconciliation processes in post-conflict societies;

Invites international and regional organizations to increase efforts within their respective mandates to promote and help to protect the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and in this regard to take into consideration relevant recommendations of the Forum on Minority Issues;

Welcomes the fact that the sixteenth Forum on Minority Issues was fully interpreted in sign language, and stresses the importance of discussions at the Forum remaining fully inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities;

Invites the Office of the High Commissioner, United Nations entities and States to support and collaborate in the organization of regional forums on minority issues in order to complement and enrich the work and recommendations of the Forum on Minority Issues;

Welcomes the inter-agency cooperation among United Nations agencies, funds and programmes on minority issues, led by the Office of the High Commissioner, and urges them to further increase their coordination and cooperation by, inter alia, developing policies on the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, drawing also on relevant outcomes of the Forum on Minority Issues and taking into account the work of relevant regional organizations;

Notes in particular in this regard the initiatives and activities of the United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities, co-led by the Office of the High Commissioner and the Department of Global Communications of the Secretariat and aimed at enhancing dialogue and cooperation between relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, and invites the network to continue to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and other relevant special procedures and treaty bodies, and to consult and engage with persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and civil society actors;

Notes the Minorities Fellowship Programme of the Office of the High Commissioner, and encourages the Special Rapporteur and alumni of the programme to strengthen their cooperation with a view to seeking specific solutions to minority issues;

Encourages States, the United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities, civil society organizations and other stakeholders to promote and support the participation of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in relevant meetings and processes of United Nations human rights mechanisms, to advance work to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and to strengthen the protection of national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in programming across the United Nations system;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to present an annual report to the Human Rights Council containing information on relevant developments of United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms and on the activities undertaken by the Office of the High Commissioner 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;

Decides to continue its consideration of this issue in accordance with its programme of work.

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