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- There is no one-size-fits all approach to minority issues. Each country presents a unique set of historical and contemporary power dynamics that create different conditions and opportunities for addressing the marginalisation of minorities.
- Overcoming the marginalisation of minorities usually means addressing existing inequalities in power and entrenched structures of discrimination. It is important to highlight the negative impact that inequality has upon overall development and to support those in power to make changes that enable the full participation of even the most excluded in society.
- The economic, social and political status of minorities may differ between and within minority groups. Groups that are economically well off might still be politically excluded and discriminated against. Minority women are often more marginalised than minority men.
- Collect disaggregated data on the human development of minority groups to help identify those that are the most marginalised; build a relationship with national statistical offices to determine what information is available and where support is needed to improve data collection. (see Tool 4)
- Conduct a mapping and analysis exercise to determine: the situation of each marginalised minority group; the impact on minorities of marginalisation and exclusion (e.g. the impact on cultural or religious life); the root causes of inequality and exclusion; and the existence and nature of CSOs that articulate the concerns of minorities. (see Tool 1- Tool 2 - Tool 3)
- Review the national legislative and policy framework for the protection of minorities.
- Build a relationship with any statutory body focused on minorities, non-discrimination and/or with the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) to learn more about the situation of minorities and their rights.
- The concept of ‘minority’ may not be widely used in public discourse. Therefore, it may be necessary to use a different name for the target group as a starting point. Identify terms that may be most familiar to governments in working with these communities – for example, ‘socially excluded’, ‘needy families’, ‘groups left behind’ or the local names of the particular communities without the prefix of ‘minority’.
- Not all governments will recognize the correlation between minority identities and inequality. Attention to overcoming the factors that cause marginalisation might be the most constructive starting point for engagement. It is important to note there are often particular causes for the marginalisation of minorities, including discrimination or cultural differences, which could be taken into consideration.
- Make a clear case for the economic, social and political benefits of minority inclusion. Government partners may be encouraged to better understand how strategies for the inclusion of minorities will improve human development, inclusive growth and promote stability.
- A focus on non-discrimination and participation will be beneficial to all minorities. Measures to improve the implementation of laws against discrimination and supporting minorities to participate in decision-making that affects them will go a long way towards reducing inequality and achieving inclusive growth.
- Government partners may need support to balance economic, social and cultural participation of minorities with political participation. Many focus on creating political institutions for minorities (e.g. national minority councils or designated seats in parliament) without taking sufficient measures to ensure that economic, social and cultural life is equally inclusive.
- Review existing UNDP Country Office capacity on minority issues, including in areas such as knowledge of: regions where minorities live; the socio-economic profile of minority communities; minority languages and media; minority community leaders; non-discrimination and minority rights legislation.
- Identify staff with existing competencies in minority issues. Perhaps establish a diversity plan to recruit staff with competencies on minority issues, languages and non-discrimination.
- Initiate a sensitization programme for staff on issues of non-discrimination and minority rights.
- Integrate into the programme cycle specific considerations for the situation of minorities. (see Tool 8)
- Ensure that UNDP support is monitored to prevent direct or indirect discrimination and to determine the impact of interventions on minorities. Integrate specific measurements into monitoring and evaluation activities to assess impact on minority groups. (see Tool 6 - Tool 7)
- Some government ministries may be more open to working on minority issues than others. It may be more strategic to begin, for instance, with the Ministry of Justice to improve access to justice for the most marginalised minorities or the Ministry of Health to review access to health services and culturally relevant health provisions for minorities.
- National Human Rights Institutions and National Councils on Minorities (or municipal level equivalents) are usually appropriate partners.
- National Statistics Offices can help produce good and reliable data for policy responses on minority issues.
- CSOs from minority communities, and/or CSOs that articulate minority concerns, are important agents and are typically eager to support UNDP and the government in their work.
- Encouraging the inclusion and participation of minorities and their organisations in human development efforts and governance contributes to more cohesive, peaceful and stronger societies.
- Recommendations from international mechanisms often highlight the situation of minorities. For example, the Universal Periodic Review process of the UN Human Rights Council, Treaty body concluding observations and Special Procedures’ reports offer useful recommendations to support governments in protecting and including minorities.
- Regional minority rights initiatives may stimulate government involvement.
The above steps are not exhaustive. The Resource Guide and Toolkit offer practical guidance to support UNDP staff to effectively respond to minority issues, thus contributing to broader development outcomes.
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In 2006, the World Bank focused its annual
World Development Report on Equity and Development. Many of the findings of that
report support the case that greater inclusion
of minorities will achieve inclusive growth
and improve development.
Marginalised minorities often constitute the deepest pockets of inequity and thus impact significantly on growth prospects. Overcoming discrimination, empowering the marginalised and creating more equitable access to and distribution of power can increase productive capacity and strengthen public institutions that will more efficiently regulate markets. Among
the key points made by the report are:
- Different cultures and religions around the world may differ in important respects, but they all share a concern with equity and fairness (p.80).
- More egalitarian distributions of political power and income are associated with sustained and enduring prosperity (p. 108).
- Discrimination and stereotyping… have been found to lower the self-esteem, effort, and performance of individuals in the groups discriminated against. Those who expect to
be discriminated against in a particular
labour market…will tend to invest less in acquiring the type of human capital that the market rewards. This reduces their potential
for individual growth and their ability to contribute to the economy (p.8).
- A relatively egalitarian distribution of political power underpins the institutions that promote prosperity. Institutions clearly have distributional effects, and bad institutions often arise because they benefit some group or elite. Good institutions arise when checks are placed on the power of elites and when the balance of political power becomes more equal in society. Growth certainly can occur in societies in
which these conditions do not apply. But the reponderance of evidence suggests that
such growth is unsustainable (p. 124)
- The growth elasticity of poverty reduction falls with greater income inequality. In other words, the impact (of the same amount of) growth on poverty reduction is significantly greater when initial income inequality is lower (p.9).
- The cost-benefit calculus that policymakers use to assess the merits of various politics too often ignores the long-term, hard to measure but real benefits of greater equity. Greater equity implies more efficient economic functions, reduced conflict, greater trust, and better institutions, with dynamic benefits for
investment and growth (p.3).
In response, a team of experts offered suggestions as to how the World Bank could use its role to impact on Breaking Out of Inequality Traps: Political Economy Considerations (2008), including:
- Provide technical assistance on the distributional impact analysis of reforms, and encourage wide public dissemination
of results to stimulate open debate.
- Promote more equitable and anti-discriminatory policies, and set norms for policies to decrease horizontal
(i.e. between groups) inequalities.
- Support information campaigns that may improve public debate, and assist policy makers to elaborate better polices.
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