7.3 DIALOGUE:

Seeking opportunities for direct dialogue with minority communities is important. In some countries, government and the public service could include individuals from minority groups, which could help to broker dialogue on minority issues. In other cases, an official body dedicated to examining minority issues may be useful for capacity building. In many countries, neither option may exist and finding opportunities for engaging in dialogue, especially with the most marginalised minority groups, will be challenging.

Any efforts to engage in dialogue with civil society could include participation by minorities. This is particularly important where such issues may impact directly on minority communities. Such dialogue can be an important source of information for crisis prevention and for the improvement of development strategies that directly impact minorities. The CCA/UNDAF process is a key process where, in accordance with the HRBA, a mapping and analysis of rights and duties (to minorities) could be undertaken in consultation with minorities.

Many CSOs could be encouraged to engage in social dialogue with minority groups. For example, trade unions often include sub-committees focused on the concerns of minority members. National platforms of CSOs could be encouraged to better reflect national diversity through the inclusion of minority CSOs. CSOs focused on the rights of women or youth could liaise with minority communities and minority CSOs with shared interests. Media associations could be sensitized to minority concerns to help combat stereotyping, hate speech and religious defamation and the development of minority media can be supported to add diversity to public discourses.


BOX 22. PRACTICAL MEASURES TO FACILITATE THE PARTICIPATION OF MINORITIES IN LOCAL CONSULTATION

Encourage minority participation:

  • Hold meetings at times and locations where minority men and women can attend safely
  • Arrange informal childcare during meetings
  • Provide translation into minority languages in meetings as needed; this may include translation into local dialects, which may be particularly important for facilitating minority women’s participation
  • Ensure that minority men and women know about the process by disseminating information through minority associations or in areas frequented by minorities (e.g. religious institutions), or through radio or TV advertisements in programmes that minorities watch or listen to.

Be aware of cultural dynamics:

  • Conduct meetings so that minority men and women can voice their concerns (e.g. oderator to invite minority men
    and women to express themselves)
  • Hold separate meetings for minority men and women on the same issue of consultation
  • If direct participation from the minority community is not possible, at least invite minority representatives (from NGOs, community-based organizations).

Be aware of other obstacles to minority participation:

  • Build the capacity of minority men and women to participate through education about their rights, and information about local political processes
  • Use communication methods which ensure that illiterate minority men and women can participate
  • In the longer term, build the capacity of minority men and women to participate through leadership capacity building.

Source: Adapted from the UNDP Toolkit on How to Mainstream HRBA and Gender into Local Governance, (2007): p. 43.

Some minority groups exist across state boundaries. Regional coordination may ensure that cross-border minority issues are addressed through regional dialogue as appropriate. The inclusion of minority groups in regional and global NGO platforms and consultation processes may be supported. For example, the negotiation of the regional free trade agreement for Central America42 created a civil society committee but did not initially invite Afro-descendant NGOs to participate; thanks to lobbying by Afro-descendant NGOs, they secured a place on the committee and have been able to articulate their specific concerns over the negotiation.

42 See the Dominican Republic-Central America – United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

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