Effective Promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities

A/RES/74/165No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 70bHuman rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2020.

What other versions does this mandate have?

17 versions · 1995–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/199

2025A/RES/80/199Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic MinoritiesLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/211Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic MinoritiesCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/168Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic MinoritiesCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/165Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic MinoritiesCompare with previous version
2018A/RES/72/184Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights 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).

What subjects does this mandate have?

3 topics

Human Rights Human Rights Advancement Minorities

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2021.

2021A/76/255Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

36 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the obligation of States to ensure that persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities may exercise fully and effectively all human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law, as proclaimed in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, and draws attention to the relevant provisions of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, including the provisions on forms of multiple discrimination;

Urges States and the international community to promote and protect the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as set out in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, including through the encouragement of conditions for the promotion of their identity, the provision of adequate education and the facilitation of their participation in all aspects of the political, economic, social, religious and cultural life of society and in the economic progress and development of their country, without discrimination, and to apply a gender perspective while doing so;

Encourages States to take appropriate measures so that, wherever possible, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their own language or to have instruction in their own language;

Urges States to take all appropriate measures, inter alia, constitutional, legislative, administrative and other measures, for the promotion and implementation of the Declaration, and appeals to States to cooperate bilaterally and multilaterally, in particular on the exchange of best practices and lessons learned, in accordance with the Declaration, in order to promote and protect the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Recommends that States continue to reflect on current and emerging challenges facing persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including the rise in persecution on religious and ethnic grounds and increasing levels of hate crimes and hate speech targeting, among others, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Also recommends that States ensure that all measures taken with a view to implementing the Declaration are, 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;

Calls upon States to undertake effective efforts to prevent and combat acts of violence specifically targeting persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Also calls upon States to take all appropriate measures to ensure the protection of children who belong to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and who are at risk of becoming or have become stateless, in accordance with the relevant obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

Further calls upon States to take all appropriate measures to ensure the protection of women and girls who belong to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and are exposed to discrimination on the grounds of being stateless, and also to give special attention to the specific needs of older persons and persons with disabilities who belong to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and who are stateless;

Recommends that States and other relevant actors ensure to the fullest extent possible that the Declaration is translated into all minority languages and disseminated widely;

Expresses its appreciation for the successful completion, in November 2018, of the eleventh session of the Forum on Minority Issues, on the theme “Statelessness: a minority issue”, which, through the widespread participation of stakeholders, provided an important platform for the promotion of dialogue on this topic and, as part of its outcome, produced recommendations to highlight the need for States to prevent and reduce statelessness by promoting the human rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and to stress the importance of inclusion of stateless persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and their representatives in policy and decision-making processes affecting them, and encourages States to take into consideration the relevant recommendations of the Forum;

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

Reviewing any legislation, policy or practice that has a discriminatory or disproportionately negative effect on persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and that may render them vulnerable, with a view to considering its amendment;

Considering ratifying, acceding to and adhering to all relevant international instruments that protect and promote the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and those aiming to eliminate statelessness;

Refraining from arbitrary and discriminatory denial or deprivation of nationality of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Ensuring that human rights protection is provided to stateless persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as human rights are universal and apply to everyone;

Ensuring that birth registration, civil registration and national identification documents are provided without discrimination on any ground, in particular race, ethnicity, religion and language, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,5 especially the target aimed at providing a legal identity for all;

Ensuring that stateless persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities have access to justice and remedy for human rights violations and that these persons can appeal to relevant judicial and administrative bodies in case of denial or deprivation of nationality;

Ensuring full compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular articles 7 and 8 thereof, and considering removing all their reservations to them;

Ensuring that women enjoy equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality, as well as equal rights with men to confer their nationality upon their children;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the effective promotion of the Declaration and the reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on minority issues and their special focus on statelessness as an issue affecting persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Commends the Special Rapporteur for the work that has been done and the important role played in raising the level of awareness of and in giving added visibility to the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Calls upon all States to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of the tasks and duties mandated to him, to provide him with all the necessary information requested and to seriously consider responding promptly and favourably to the requests of the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries in order to enable him to fulfil his duties effectively;

Encourages the specialized agencies, regional organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations to develop regular dialogue and cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, as well as to continue to contribute to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to promote, within her mandate, the implementation of the Declaration, and to engage in a dialogue with Governments for that purpose and regularly update and disseminate widely the United Nations Guide for Minorities;

Welcomes the inter-agency cooperation among United Nations agencies, funds and programmes on minority issues, led by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 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 minorities, drawing also on relevant outcomes of the Forum on Minority Issues and taking into account the work of relevant regional organizations;

Calls upon the Secretary-General to make available, at the request of Governments concerned, qualified expertise on minority issues, including in the context of the prevention of and efforts to combat statelessness, to assist in resolving existing or potential situations involving minorities;

Invites the human rights treaty bodies, as well as special procedures of the Human Rights Council, to continue to give attention, within their respective mandates, to situations and 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;

Invites the United Nations mechanisms and bodies, the specialized agencies and regional organizations, within their respective mandates, to continue to contribute to the protection and the prevention of violations of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including by strengthening cooperation in respect of information-gathering and improving the information flow between themselves and with States;

Encourages regional intergovernmental bodies, within their respective regions, to promote greater attention to the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities by, inter alia, actively raising awareness of and promoting the Declaration in their work, encouraging its implementation at the national level and considering the creation of thematic and/or special mechanisms on this issue;

Encourages national human rights institutions to pay due attention to the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including by monitoring situations of potential threats for persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and by investigating and reporting, in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and their respective mandates, episodes of targeted violence against persons belonging to minorities, including, when necessary, to regional and international bodies;

Encourages civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to promote awareness of the Declaration and to review the extent to which it integrates the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and the Declaration into its work, as well as to inform persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities about their rights;

Requests the Special Rapporteur to report annually to the General Assembly and include recommendations for effective strategies for the better implementation of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Invites the Office of the High Commissioner, United Nations entities and Member States to support and collaborate in the organization of regional forums on minority issues initiated by the Special Rapporteur in accordance with his mandate, in order to complement and enrich the work and recommendations of the Forum on Minority Issues;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution, including information on activities undertaken by Member States, the Office of the High Commissioner, the Special Rapporteur, relevant United Nations entities and other relevant stakeholders to enhance the implementation of the Declaration and to ensure the realization of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Decides to continue consideration of the question at its seventy-sixth session under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of human rights”.

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Who created this mandate?

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What subjects does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What does this mandate say?

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