The right to effective participation for minorities can be divided into three key aspects: the right to participate in public life and decision-making, especially on issues that affect them; the right to participate in the life of their own community; and the right to participate in the benefits of economic progress and development.

The right of everyone to participate in the conduct of public affairs is outlined in article 25 of the ICCPR. The UN Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities reaffirms that "persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life" (article 2.2). Given that minorities are frequently excluded from public participation, the UN Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities states, "persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in decisions on the national and, where appropriate, the regional level concerning the minority to which they belong or the regions in which they live" (Article 2.3).

Minorities also have a right to form their own associations (UNDM article 2.4). This right extends to forming peaceful associations and contact across territorial boundaries with members of the same identity group or with other minorities (UNDM article 2.5).

To facilitate the participation of minorities in the economic sphere "States should consider appropriate measures so that persons belonging to minorities may participate in the economic progress and development in their country" (UNDM article 4.5). The integration of minorities into the development process should take place in ways that ensure minorities can preserve their identity as they wish.

The key message in all these provisions is effective participation. Any mechanisms for participation should be genuine and inclusive. Opportunities for consultation should be provided before decisions are made. Development partners should take into consideration the outcomes of the consultation process when making final decisions. Development partners can ensure that the consultation process includes wide participation from within the minority community. Problems may arise if such engagement only deals with select community leaders who may not represent the community as a whole. For example, community leaders or spokespersons are often older men and may not reflect the opinions or priorities of women or other marginalised groups in the community. Such consideration is to be balanced with due recognition of any traditional leadership structures that exist in the minority community.

Minorities that are also indigenous peoples have specific provisions that impact on their participation rights, including rights to self-determination and to free, prior and informed consent. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples calls upon the "organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system and other inter-governmental organizations" to establish a "way and means of ensuring participation of indigenous peoples on issues affecting them" (article 41). Also see the UNDG Guidelines on Indigenous Peoples' Issues, (2008, p. 12 and 28).

Minorities have a right to participate in decision-making that affects them. Measures to ensure the equal participation of marginalised groups within minority communities are needed.

	Policy Responses on Participation: International law offers little guidance regarding institutions and mechanisms for implementing the right to participation of minorities. However, the stronger the institutions and mechanisms, the more likely they will contribute to stability and non-discrimination. Policy responses to ensure the right to participate in decision-making that affects minorities may be taken at the central, regional or local levels. At a minimum, minorities should have the right to vote and to stand for office without discrimination. Consideration may be given to the shape of electoral systems. Factors such as proportional representation, candidate selection and the boundaries of electoral districts can impact upon minority participation. Designated seats for minorities in the legislature may be created. Minorities have the right to form their own political parties as well. Although restrictions are often applied to political participation for non-citizens, efforts could be made to accommodate participation of immigrant minorities. This may include conferring voting rights in local elections or the creation of local consultative bodies for non-citizens. For example, Denmark has over 60 integration councils and Germany has about 400 Ausländerbeiräte (foreigners' councils) (MPG, 44). Such bodies can increase participation of excluded minorities, and improve communication and relations between immigrants, citizens and local authorities. For some minority groups, forms of territorial or non-territorial autonomy may be appropriate. Minority groups that are territorially concentrated and constitute a sizeable population in the locale may be served best by autonomous forms of local or regional governance. This may enable control over decision-making for issues like education, culture, local public services and local development. Non-territorial forms of autonomy usually focus on cultural rights, such as curriculum development for minority languages, regulation of traditional laws and customs, the right to use and register their names in their own language, and the right to form cultural institutions. National consultative bodies for minorities are also common. These bodies may or may not be elected directly by persons belonging to minorities. In Hungary, for example, the national law on minorities (Act LXXVII on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities (1993)) is the basis of self-government for Roma, the National Gypsy Self-Government (est. 1995), which contains 53 seats elected by popular vote (i.e. not exclusively by Roma). It was found to be too difficult to restrict voting only to Roma, not least because of self-identification issues. For this reason is it advantageous to adopt a variety of measures that facilitate the participation of minorities in decision-making and not rely on a single entry point of political engagement.

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