Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities mandate of Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues : — A/HRC/RES/61/15 | UN Mandate Registry
Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities Mandate of Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues
Takes note of the report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues,4 his report on the recommendations of the Forum on Minority Issues at its eighteenth session5 and the report submitted to the General Assembly at its eightieth session;6
Notes the completion, in November 2025, of the eighteenth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, on the theme “The contribution of minorities to diverse, resilient, and peaceful societies”, 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;
3
Welcomes the work and takes note of 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;7
Welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues and his role in raising awareness of and in giving added visibility to the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and 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, and encourages the Special Rapporteur to continue strengthening his efforts in guiding the work of the Forum for a constructive and mutually respectful dialogue;
5
Calls uponStates 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;
6
UrgesStates, while bearing in mind the theme of the eighteenth 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:
a
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;
b
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 building peaceful, resilient and inclusive societies, and promoting social cohesion through public discourse, education and cultural initiatives;
c
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;
d
Ensuring the protection and promotion of the rights of children who belong to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including their right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language and preserve their identity;
e
Encouraging conditions for the promotion of the identity of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities by investing in educational programmes for all and education in minority languages, including support for minority-led cultural initiatives;
f
Developing inclusive education systems, including for vocational training, to counter misinformation and marginalization by ensuring 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 and promoting social cohesion;
g
Encouraging social cohesion through the development of inclusive policies to address root causes such as poverty, inequality and discrimination, and the enhancement of infrastructure to ensure that basic services are accessible to all without discrimination;
h
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, as well as by promoting the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and relevant resolutions of United Nations bodies;
i
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;
j
Ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including women, youth, older persons and persons with disabilities, at all levels of decision-making and implementation of conflict prevention and resolution, mediation, post-conflict reconstruction, peacekeeping, peacemaking, peacebuilding and transitional justice processes;
k
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;
l
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;
m
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;
n
Enabling open and constructive intercultural and interfaith dialogue for the recognition and promotion of and respect for diversity, including as a critical tool for fostering mutual understanding, building trust and promoting peace, sustainable development, peaceful coexistence, conflict prevention and reconciliation processes in post-conflict societies;
o
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;
7
Encouragesthe Office of the High Commissioner, within existing mandates and available resources, to continue to provide, upon the request of States, expertise and technical support for the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities to relevant stakeholders, with the aim of ensuring the full enjoyment of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;
8
Invitesinternational 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, to ensure that perspectives of persons belonging to national or to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are systematically integrated across regional and country level programming and in this regard to take into consideration relevant recommendations of the Forum on Minority Issues;
9
Welcomes the fact that the eighteenth 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;
10
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;
11
Notes in particular in this regard the initiatives and activities of the United Nations network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities, co-led in 2025 and 2026 by the Office of the High Commissioner and the United Nations Population Fund 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;
12
Notes also the Minorities Fellowship Programme of the Office of the High Commissioner, and encourages the Special Rapporteur and alumni of the multilingual programme to strengthen their cooperation with a view to seeking specific solutions to minority issues;
13
EncouragesStates, relevant United Nations entities, 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 persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in programming across the United Nations system;
14
Decides to extend the mandate of Special Rapporteur on minority issues for a period of three years under the same terms as provided for by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/5 of 27 March 2014;
15
Calls uponall States to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of the tasks and duties mandated to him or her, to provide him or her with all the necessary information requested and to seriously consider responding promptly and favourably to the request of the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries in order to enable him or her to fulfil his or her duties effectively;
16
Encouragesspecialized agencies, regional organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations to develop and maintain regular dialogue and cooperation with the mandate holder, and to continue to contribute to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;
17
Requeststhe Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide all the human, technical and financial assistance necessary for the effective fulfilment of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur;
18
Decides to continue its consideration of this issue in accordance with its programme of work.
