Marginalised Minorities in Development Programming

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Chapter 1: Minorities in
Development: Making the Argument

1.1	How are minority issues important for development?

1.2	Why is it important for UNDP to address minority issues?

1.3	What steps can UNDP take to respond to minority issues?

Chapter 2: Conceptual Issues

2.1	Who are minorities?

2.2	Numerical size and demographics

2.3	‘Old’ and ‘‘new’’ minorities, citizens and non-citizens

2.4	Minorities and indigenous peoples

2.5	Diversity within minority groups

2.6	Minorities exist across borders

Chapter 3: Fundamental Rights and Principles

3.1

What are minority rights and minority protection?

3.2

Recognition

3.3

Protection of existence

3.4

Protection and promotion of identity


3.4.1	Education rights and identity

3.4.2	Limits on promotion of identity

3.5

Non-discrimination and equality

3.6

Effective participation

3.7

Responsibilities of minorities

Chapter 4: Minorities in Development

4.1

Meeting UNDP’s objectives: minorities and UNDP practice areas

4.2

Poverty reduction and the MDGs


4.2.1	Reducing poverty for minorities

4.2.2	Achieving the MDGs for all

4.3

Democratic governance


4.3.1	Access to justice

4.3.2	Political participation of minorities

4.4

Crisis prevention and recovery

4.5

Environment and energy for sustainable development

4.6

HIV/AIDS

Chapter 5: Programming Opportunities and Relevant Strategies

5.1

Common Country Assessment and United Nations Development Assistance Framework (CCA/UNDAF)

5.2

Country programmes


5.2.1	UNDP experiences with targeted and inclusive approaches

Chapter 6: Capacity Development

6.1

Building government capacity on minority issues

6.2

Building UNDP capacity on minority issues


6.2.1	Education rights and identity

6.2.2	Limits on promotion of identity

6.2.3	Collecting baseline data on minorities

6.2.4	Identifying minority rights standards

6.2.5	Inter-agency cooperation

6.3

UN support to capacity-building for minorities

Chapter 7: Advocacy and Partnership

7.1	Creating partnerships with minority CSOs

7.2	Advocacy

7.3	Dialogue

7.4	Information and outreach

7.5	Participation

Introduction

Chapter 8: Situation Analysis Tools

Tool No.1:	Checklist for Developing Programmes and Projects on Minorities in Development

Tool No.2:	Vulnerability Assessments: Steps and Techniques

Tool No.3:	HRBA Causality Analysis: Immediate, Underlying and Root Causes

Chapter 9: Data Collection Tools

Tool No.4:	Challenges in Collecting Quantitative Ethnic Data

Tool No.5:	Survey-Design, Data Collection & Sampling Method: Case Example from UNDP Ukraine

Chapter 10: Monitoring and Evaluation Tools

Tool No.6:	Measuring ‘Ethnic Distance’

Tool No.7:	Early Warning on Minorities and Conflict

Tool No.8:	Integrating Minorities into the UNDP Programme Cycle

Chapter 11: UN Standards and Mechanisms

11.1

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

11.2

UN human rights treaties

11.3

UN treaty body mechanisms

11.4

Other standards relevant to minorities

11.5

UN special procedures


11.5.1	The UN Independent Expert on minority issues

11.5.2	UN Special Rapporteurs

11.6

The UN Forum on Minority Issues

11.7

The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) and the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

11.8

The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGPAD)

11.9

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

11.10

Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council

11.11

UN early warning mechanisms (EWMs)

Chapter 12: Regional Issues, Standards and Mechanisms

12.1

Minorities in Africa


12.1.1	Standards and mechanisms of the African Union

12.2

Minorities in Latin America and the Caribbean


12.2.1	Standards and mechanisms of the Organization of American States (OAS)

12.3

Minorities in the Arab States


12.3.1	Standards and mechanisms of the League of Arab States

12.4

Minorities in Asia and the Pacific


12.4.1	Standards and mechanisms in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

12.5

Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)


12.5.1	Standards and mechanisms in CEE and the CIS

12.5.2	Council of Europe (CoE)

12.5.3	European Union (EU)

12.5.4	Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

12.5.5	Decade for Roma Inclusion

List of Annexes

I.	UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities

II.	Selected conclusions and recommendations on minority rights from UN treaty bodies

III.	Listing of papers of the former UN Working Group on Minorities and the present Independent Expert on minority issues, and the pamphlets in the UN Guide for Minorities, by theme, by country/region as well as the major studies or reports of the former UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights

IV.	Further reading on minority issues

V.	Web sources on minority issues

VI.	Works cited

List of Boxes, Tables & Figures

11.6 THE UN FORUM ON MINORITY ISSUES

In 2007, the UN Human Rights Council established the UN Forum on Minority Issues. The Forum on Minority Issues provides a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; provides thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Independent Expert on minority issues; identifies and analyzes best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities; and contributes to efforts to improve cooperation among UN mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, funds and programmes on activities related to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including at the regional level. The Independent Expert on minority issues guides the work of the Forum, prepares its annual meetings and includes the thematic recommendations of the Forum in his or her report. The Forum meets annually for two days in Geneva and is open to attendance by States, UN agencies and mechanisms, international organizations, national human rights institutions, NGOs, and academics and experts on minority issues. The participation of minorities from all regions of the world is especially encouraged.

The UN Forum on Minority Issues was preceded by the UN Working Group on Minorities established in 1995 to, inter alia, review the promotion and practical realization of the UN Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The Working Group was comprised of five independent experts and held 12 sessions between 1995 and 2006. It was a subsidiary body of the former UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. A wealth of work was undertaken by the Working Group not only on conceptualization of the rights of persons belonging to minorities but also good practices and other measures for the promotion and protection of minorities. Numerous papers were prepared and submitted for consideration by the Working Group. A list of those documents is available on the OHCHR website and in Annex III.⁶¹ In 2005, the Working Group adopted a detailed Commentary intended to serve as a guide for understanding and application of the UN Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.⁶²

⁶¹ http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/docs/docstable.doc (accessed 9 August 2009).
⁶² See UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2005/2 (4 April 2005). Additionally, the Working Group considered the Minority Profile and Matrix contained in document E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2006/3, which provides a checklist of issues and measures based on the provisions and principles contained in the UN Declaration and the Commentary.