RES/37/14 Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities

GE.18-04197(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-seventh session

26 February–23 March 2018

Agenda item 3

Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,

political, economic, social and cultural rights,

including the right to development

Armenia,** Australia, Austria,** Bosnia and Herzegovina,** Canada,** Chile,

Croatia, Cyprus,** Czechia,** Denmark,** Finland,** Georgia, Germany,

Honduras,** Hungary, Iceland,** Ireland,** Italy,** Latvia,** Liechtenstein,**

Luxembourg,** Malta,** Mexico, Montenegro,** Netherlands,** New Zealand,**

Norway,** Paraguay,** Peru, Philippines, Poland,** Romania,** Russian

Federation,** Serbia,** Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay:** draft resolution

37/… Rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Convention on the Elimination

of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Declaration on the Rights of Persons

Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted by consensus

by the General Assembly by its resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992,

Taking into consideration article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights and other relevant existing international standards and national legislation,

Recalling all previous resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the

Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council on the rights of persons

belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities,

Recalling also the paragraphs in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action relating to the rights of persons

belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities,

Welcoming the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, of which

the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for

Development is an integral part, recalling that the Sustainable Development Goals and

* Reissued for technical reasons on 21 March 2018. ** State not a member of the Human Rights Council.

United Nations A/HRC/37/L.25*

targets seek to realize the human rights of all, and stressing the need for Member States to

integrate the 2030 Agenda into their respective national policies and development

frameworks, as appropriate, to promote the effective implementation, follow-up and review

of the 2030 Agenda, in order to ensure that no one is left behind,

Reaffirming that youth participation is important for development, and encouraging

Member States to explore and promote the participation of young people in relevant

decision-making processes and monitoring, including in designing and implementing

policies and programmes involving them, while implementing the 2030 Agenda,

Welcoming the adoption of initiatives by the United Nations System, including the

proclamation of the year beginning on 1 January 2019 as the International Year of

Indigenous Languages and International Mother Language Day, to draw attention to the

critical loss of languages, and recognizing the urgent need to promote the preservation and

protection of all languages, including as an educational medium, and to take further urgent

steps to that end at the national and international levels,

Taking note of the publication of the handbook entitled “Language Rights of

Linguistic Minorities: A Practical Guide for Implementation”,

Emphasizing the need to strengthen efforts to meet the goal of the full realization of

the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities,

including by addressing their economic and social conditions and marginalization, and to

end any type of discrimination against them,

Emphasizing also the importance of recognizing and addressing multiple,

aggravated and intersecting forms of discrimination against persons belonging to national

or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and the compounded negative impact on the

enjoyment of their rights,

Recognizing that young women and girls belonging to national or ethnic, religious

and linguistic minorities may often face particular challenges, and underlining in this

context the importance of taking a gender-sensitive approach when considering measures to

promote and protect the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and

linguistic minorities,

Emphasizing the fundamental importance of human rights education, training and

learning, dialogue, including intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and interaction among all

relevant stakeholders and members of society relating to the promotion and protection of

the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities as

an integral part of the development of society as a whole, including through the sharing of

best practices relating to, inter alia, the promotion of mutual understanding of minority

issues, the management of diversity through the recognition of plural identities and the

promotion of inclusive and stable societies and of social cohesion therein,

1. Takes note of the report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues

submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-seventh session,1 his report on the

recommendations of the Forum on Minority Issues at its tenth session2 and the report to the

General Assembly at its seventy-second session;3

2. Noting the completion, in December 2017, of the tenth session of the Forum

on Minority Issues, addressing the rights of minority youth, which, through the widespread

participation of stakeholders, provided an important platform for promoting dialogue on

this topic, and encourages States to take into consideration the relevant recommendations of

the Forum;

1 A/HRC/37/66.

2 A/HRC/37/73.

3 A/72/165.

3. Takes note of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and

linguistic minorities;4

4. Commends the Special Rapporteur on minority issues for his work and for the

important role that he 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 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 minorities;

5. 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

obligations and commitments, 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. Urges States, while bearing in mind the theme of the tenth session of the

Forum on Minority Issues, and with a view to enhancing the implementation of the

Declaration and to ensuring the realization of the rights of persons belonging to national or

ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including minority youth, to take appropriate

measures by, inter alia:

(a) Taking legislative, policy or practical measures to ensure that minority youth

have equal access to education of equal quality, delivered in an inclusive environment that

fosters greater achievement for all;

(b) Providing, wherever possible, minority youth with adequate opportunities to

learn their own language or to have instruction in their own language, while ensuring that

minorities also receive instruction in the official languages;

(c) Refraining from adopting policies or education strategies segregating

students into different educational institutions or classes based on their minority status;

(d) Reviewing any legislation, policy or practice that has a discriminatory or

disproportionately negative effect on minority youth, bearing in mind that the full

enjoyment of human rights by young persons empowers them to contribute as active

members of society to the political, civil, economic, social and cultural development of

their country;

(e) Promoting the representation of minority youth in decision-making processes

at the local, national and international levels, especially processes concerning youth and

minority policies;

(f) Also promoting the adequate representation of persons belonging to national

or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including minority youth where applicable, in

national and local institutions, including municipalities, schools and police forces;

(g) Ensuring the full and effective participation of minority youth in economic

life, as appropriate, without discrimination based on language, religion or ethnicity,

including by developing training and professional orientation programmes and ensuring

that such programmes are made available in minority languages;

(h) Supporting activities that can help to develop a spirit of community,

including efforts to engage minority youth through sport and culture;

(i) Ensuring protection of minorities, including minority youth, on an equal basis

with all other civilians, taking into account their specific vulnerabilities during and after

conflict;

4 A/HRC/25/30.

(j) Enabling intercultural and interreligious dialogue among youth for the

recognition and promotion of and respect for diversity, including as a critical tool for

fostering mutual understanding, promotion of peace, sustainable development, peaceful

coexistence, conflict prevention, reconciliation processes and mutual understanding in post-

conflict societies;

(k) Facilitating the participation, as appropriate, of persons belonging to national

or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, including minority youth, in the design,

establishment and implementation of comprehensive transitional justice strategies;

(l) Countering any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that

constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, including on the Internet, and

adopting and implementing measures to criminalize incitement to imminent violence based

on nationality, race, religion or belief, while respecting all internationally recognized

human rights and fundamental freedoms;

(m) Promoting cultural diversity, inclusion, education and tolerance, inter alia, by

encouraging, on a voluntary basis, complementary efforts by media and digital media actors

to disseminate information about the rights of all persons belonging to national or ethnic,

religious and linguistic minorities and to give a voice to their concerns and views;

7. Invites international and regional organizations to continue to pay attention to

the 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;

8. 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 national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, drawing also

on relevant outcomes of the Forum and taking into account the work of relevant regional

organizations;

9. Notes in particular, in this regard, the initiatives and activities of the United

Nations network on racial discrimination and the protection of persons belonging to

national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, coordinated by the Office of the High

Commissioner 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 and the Special Rapporteur on

contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance

and to consult and engage with persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and

linguistic minorities and civil society actors;

10. Requests the High Commissioner 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;

11. Requests the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner to continue to

provide all the human, technical and financial assistance necessary for the effective

fulfilment of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues and for the activities

of the Office of the High Commissioner in the area of rights of persons belonging to

national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

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

programme of work.