The UN has adopted several instruments and mechanisms on minority rights. It is important to recall that members of minorities can have multiple identities and may also use standards and mechanisms created for those identities, for example, as women, children, indigenous peoples, migrants, refugees, persons with disabilities or non-citizens.

11.1 UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS BELONGING TO NATIONAL OR ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS AND LINGUISTIC MINORITIES

The main international instrument on minorities is the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, proclaimed in 1992 (resolution 47/135) by the UN General Assembly. The Declaration elaborates minimum standards for minority rights based on article 27 of the ICCPR. Like other UN declarations, it is not legally binding. However, it is a strong political commitment by States that was adopted by consensus in the UN General Assembly.

The Declaration grants persons belonging to minorities:


Protection, by States, of their existence and their national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity
(article 1);

The right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion and to use their own language in private and in public (article 2.1);

The right to participate in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life (article 2.2);

The right to participate in decisions that affect them on the national and regional levels (article 2.3);

The right to establish and maintain their own associations (article 2.4);

The right to establish and maintain peaceful contacts with other members of their group and with persons belonging to other minorities, both within their own country and across state borders (article 2.5); and


The freedom to exercise their rights, individually as well as in community with other members of their group, without discrimination (article 3).

The Declaration also compels States to “take measures where required to ensure that persons belonging to minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms” (article 4.1). These measures include:

To create favourable conditions to enable them to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs (article 4.2);

To allow adequate opportunities for minorities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue (article 4.3);

To encourage knowledge of the history, traditions, language and culture of minorities existing within minority territory and ensure that members of such minorities have adequate opportunities to gain knowledge of the society as a whole (article 4.4);

To allow minority participation in economic progress and development (article 4.5);

To consider the legitimate interests of minorities in developing national policies and programmes, as well as in planning and implementing programmes of cooperation and assistance (article 5);

To cooperate with other States on questions relating to minorities, including the exchange of information and experiences, in order to promote mutual understanding and confidence (article 6);

To promote respect for the rights set forth in the Declaration (article 7);

To fulfil the obligations and commitments States have assumed under international treaties and agreements to which they are parties (article 8.1); and


The specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system are encouraged to contribute to the realization of the rights set forth in the Declaration (article 9).

For minority groups that are also indigenous peoples, please see the UNDG Guidelines on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues (2008) for a discussion of the rights of indigenous peoples, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.

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