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

A/RES/78/211View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 71bHuman rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2023.

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, 2025.

2025A/80/288Effective 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?

37 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 quality 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, consistent with the Declaration, in order to promote and protect the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Encourages States to work towards fulfilling their voluntary pledges made during the high-level meeting convened by the President of the General Assembly during the general debate of the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session on the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, to improve the implementation of the Declaration by implementing the good practices which were shared, and to further strengthen existing measures in this regard;

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, the prevalence of statelessness among national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, human rights violations in law enforcement and the justice sector and increasing levels of hate crimes and hate speech targeting, among others, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Calls upon States to undertake, as applicable, initiatives to ensure that persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are aware of and able to exercise their rights, including, inter alia, the right of everyone to a nationality, as set out in article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and complemented by the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and in other international human rights law;

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, 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 and promote the empowerment of all women and girls who belong to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and are exposed to multiple forms of discrimination as well as sexual and gender-based violence, 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;

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 December 2022, of the fifteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, on the theme “Review, rethink, reform: thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities”, which, as part of its outcome, produced recommendations to highlight the need for States to comply with their human rights obligations in relation to addressing hate speech on social media, and encourages States to take into consideration the relevant recommendations of the Forum, and notes the work of the United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities;

Calls upon States, while bearing in mind the theme of the fifteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, and the summary by the President of the General Assembly of the high-level meeting marking the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration in September 2022, 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, including constitutional provisions as appropriate, policy or practice that has a discriminatory or disproportionately negative effect, both offline and in digital contexts, on persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, 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 with the aim of addressing and countering the spread of racism, xenophobia, negative stereotyping and stigmatization;

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 that persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities have equal access without any form of discrimination to justice and remedies for human rights violations, abuses and/or crimes, including crimes committed on the basis of national, racial or religious hatred;

Adopting and implementing legislative anti-discrimination measures, where required, to protect and promote the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

Strengthening international cooperation, including with international and regional organizations, and cooperation with the private sector, including technology companies, national human rights institutions and civil society in order to share expertise, knowledge and effective practices in addressing and countering hate speech and discrimination against persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, online and offline, while respecting and promoting human rights, including in the development and use of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI);

Working with social media companies, as applicable, to protect persons belonging to minorities by taking active measures to counter hate speech and address its increasing spread, enable research into measures to reduce it and promote users’ access to effective reporting channels, in a manner consistent with international human rights law;

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;

Commends the Special Rapporteur for the work 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 his mandate, the implementation of the Declaration, and to engage in a dialogue with Governments for that purpose and to 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, notes the activities of the United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities, and urges United Nations agencies, funds and programmes 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, in particular in the light of the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities;

Calls upon the Secretary-General to make available, at the request of Governments concerned, qualified expertise on minority issues, including in the context of efforts to address and counter hate speech while fully respecting the right to freedom of expression, and 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 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 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 eightieth 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 eightieth session under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of human rights”.

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