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

A/RES/63/174View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 64b Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2009.

What other versions does this mandate have?

17 versions · 1995–2025

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

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/199	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities	3,833	66%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/211	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities	3,518	69%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/168	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities	2,899	72%Compare
2020	A/RES/74/165	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities	2,539	71%Compare
2018	A/RES/72/184	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities	2,532	48%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

10 reports · 2003–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/281	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/80/199
2025	A/80/288	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/211
2023	A/78/306	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/168
2021	A/76/255	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/74/165
2019	A/74/215	Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/72/184

What’s in this document?

17 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,⁶ and draws attention to the relevant provisions of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action,⁷ including the provisions on forms of multiple discrimination;

⁶Resolution 47/135, annex.

⁷See A/CONF.189/12 and Corr.1, chap. I.

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, 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;

Urges States to take, as appropriate, all necessary constitutional, legislative, administrative and other measures to promote and give effect to 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;

Welcomes in this regard the initiative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize, in cooperation with the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the expert meeting on integration with diversity in policing, held in Vienna on 15 and 16 January 2008, bringing together police service professionals of different regions and countries of the world in order to share good experiences and lessons learned in relation to the inclusion of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in law enforcement systems, and takes note of the ongoing work on the elaboration of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights guidelines on integration with diversity in policing;⁸

⁸The report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the expert meeting on integration with diversity in policing is available at www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/seminar.htm.

Encourages States, in their follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to include aspects relating to persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in their national plans of action and, in this context, to take forms of multiple discrimination fully into account;

Commends the independent expert on minority issues for the work that she has undertaken so far, for the important role that she has 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 and for her ongoing efforts to promote and protect their rights in order to ensure equitable development and peaceful and stable societies, including through close cooperation with Governments, the relevant United Nations bodies and mechanisms and non-governmental organizations, as provided for in Human Rights Council resolution 7/6;

Calls upon all States to cooperate with the independent expert in the performance of the tasks and duties mandated to her, and encourages the specialized agencies, regional organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations to develop regular dialogue and cooperation with the mandate-holder;

Takes note with appreciation of the decision of the Human Rights Council to establish the Forum on Minority Issues,2 which shall provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities as well as thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the independent expert on minority issues and identify and analyse best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the Declaration;

Invites States, United Nations mechanisms, bodies, the specialized agencies, funds and programmes, regional, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions as well as academics and experts on minority issues to participate actively in the inaugural session of the Forum on Minority Issues, to be held in Geneva in December 2008, which will be dedicated to the subject of the rights of persons belonging to minorities and the right to education;

Calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to promote, within her mandate, the implementation of the Declaration, to continue 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 consultation of the High Commissioner with United Nations agencies, funds and programmes on minority issues, and calls upon those agencies, funds and programmes to contribute actively to this process;

Also welcomes the cooperation of the independent expert on minority issues with United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in continuing their engagement with persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in their work in all parts of the world;

Requests the High Commissioner to continue her efforts to improve coordination and cooperation among United Nations agencies, funds and programmes on activities related to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and to take the work of relevant regional organizations active in the field of human rights into account in her endeavours;

Invites the human rights treaty bodies, when considering reports submitted by States parties 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;

Invites the High Commissioner to continue to seek voluntary contributions to facilitate the effective participation of representatives of non-governmental organizations and persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, in particular those from developing countries, in minority-related activities organized by the United Nations, particularly its human rights bodies, and in doing so to give particular attention to ensuring the participation of young people and women;

Invites the independent expert on minority issues to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

Decides to continue consideration of the question at its sixty-fifth session under the item entitled “Human rights questions”.

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

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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