TOOL NO. 1: CHECKLIST FOR DEVELOPING PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS ON MINORITIES IN DEVELOPMENT

The following checklist draws from an Information Note developed by OHCHR for its staff and other practitioners, with the support of the Inter-Agency Group on Minorities (composed of OHCHR, UNDP, UNESCO, UNOCHA, UNITAR, ILO, UNCTAD and WHO etc.).

Using this tool:

This tool has been developed in accordance with the provisions of the UN Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. It is useful for collecting a range of baseline information, which can be used, inter alia, to help build activities to promote and protect rights of minorities. Several sections address the needs and rights of particular minority groups, including displaced minorities, minority women, and religious minorities. The tool provides helpful guiding questions to inform the creation of specific surveys.

Part F provides guidance on how the UN may support the effective participation of persons belonging to minorities. OHCHR presents the tool as a work-in-progress that could be expanded in due course taking into consideration experiences from the field. If using this tool, it might be helpful to coordinate activities with OHCHR field staff and/or the OHCHR Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Unit (minorities@ohchr.org).

A. Understanding and assessing the situation of minorities in a given country

• Are minority groups recognized in the country? If so, is it through any specific legal or policy framework?
• What are the most relevant concerns for minorities in the country, i.e. gaps and situation analysis to assess which rights to which minorities are entitled, are not being enjoyed and for what reasons?
• Are these concerns specific to the minority or do other groups or sectors of the society share the same concerns?
• Are these concerns equally affecting women and men within the minority groups and in the society at large?
• What recommendations have the human rights treaty bodies or the special procedures made regarding the situation of minorities?
• Are there NGOs working on the issues of minorities? Have they, or NHRIs, produced reports, surveys or other studies, or have concerns relating to minorities been raised by the media or international NGOs?
• Does any disaggregated data exist along ethnic or religious lines that tell us something about the situations of minorities in relation to the general population?
  

B. Structures and settings to improve the situation of minorities

• Are minority groups organized in the country? Have women and men equal access to organizational structures and mechanisms that are representative of minorities, such as NGOs working to promote the rights of minorities?
• Is there any particular neutral setting or space for dialogue between minority representatives and government officials at the central and/or local levels and is there any room for the UN Country Team to promote their establishment and/or strengthening?
• What are the main actions currently in place in the country (Government, international community, civil society) to promote and protect the rights of minorities as set forth in the UN Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities?
• Is there any specific mechanism for the collection of disaggregated data, including on the access to education, housing and health care and health conditions that could independently reflect the realities faced by minorities in the country? Do sex and age disaggregated data exist?
• Has the UN Country Team established a mechanism (including any thematic group) or policy to consult with minorities and address their concerns?
• Does the CCA include any particular reference to the situation of minorities? If so, have their situations and concerns been included in the UNDAF for support? Does your respective Country Programme pay attention to the situation and concerns of minorities?
• Have the particular needs of minorities been analysed in the preparation of the appeals (e.g. for Donor and Agency funding for Consolidated Appeals Processes and Common Humanitarian Action Plans) for those countries where their human rights and humanitarian situations are particularly challenging?

C. Identifying priorities to address the situation of minorities

The identification of priority areas for action depends on the urgency of the situation and the kind of responses required. In situations where there are serious human rights violations or in armed conflicts, priority areas will need to be identified for immediate action. However, this is not a substitute for a more general protection framework covering a wide range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Protection of existence of national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities:

• Have there been historical cases of mass violence, atrocities, sexual violence, or acts of genocide perpetrated against minorities?
• Are there cases in which members of minority groups are being physically expelled or forcibly deported from the country?
• Is there any specific situation where minority groups and/or their members are particularly excluded or targeted?
• Are there situations in which minorities are suffering as a direct or indirect result of the historical past and does this legacy still impact on their lives or livelihoods?
• Are the cases of violence against minorities systematically investigated and, if not, why not? What are the main causes of violence against minorities?
• Are freedom of religion and the right to enjoy and maintain one’s own culture respected?
• Are minority women particularly at risk of abuse and social exclusion and what are the precautionary measures in place to address their situation?
  

Promotion of identity and education and culture:

• What sort of programmes and actions can be supported to create the favourable conditions that enable minority women and men to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs?
• In the context of the support being provided to the country in the education system, how can minorities’ enjoyment of adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or have instruction in their mother tongue, including the knowledge of their history, traditions, language and culture, be ensured?
• In a humanitarian crisis and in particular in situations of displacement, how can the right of minority children to learn their mother tongue be ensured?

Promotion of non-discrimination and equality:

• Are there comprehensive constitutional provisions and/or legislation on non-discrimination, and to what extent do they reflect the rights and the protection of minorities?
• Are there inequalities between different groups including minorities?
• Are the allegations of discrimination systematically registered when the parties are minorities?
• What are the possibilities for the UN Country Team to adopt a coordinated approach and fight against both social and institutional discrimination?
• Is there any particular situation of discrimination against minority women within their communities? How is the UN acting to protect their rights?
• Is there any discrimination in the access to basic services (health care, clean water, food and education) to minority groups?
• What are the dynamics behind multiple discrimination practices and who are the most vulnerable to it? What suitable mechanisms can be promoted to address this issue?

Promotion of participation in public life:

• Do minority groups have access to information relating to public policies and decisions taken on their behalf, especially when they were not involved in the decision-making processes?
• Is there any possibility and do mechanisms exist to ensure dialogue with minority groups at the national, regional or local government level?
• Do possibilities or mechanisms exist to ensure that the contributions of minority groups are taken into account and/or included in public policies? Are there any parliamentary or other kinds of lobby groups on minorities?
• Are minorities represented in public administration (e.g. as members of parliament, in the judicial services, and law enforcement etc)? If yes, is it proportionate with regard to the size of their communities and the interests to be addressed? If not, what could be done to promote their integration in the public service?
• Does the participation of members of minorities in public life have an effect on gender equality within the community and in the society at large? What kind of mechanisms have been or could be promoted to encourage minority women’s participation?
• What are the possibilities for the UN to build the capacity of minority groups to participate in decision-making and to monitor the implementation of public policies?

Protection of the provisions of basic social services for minorities:

• How does poverty particularly affect minorities in the country? Are persons belonging to minorities considered to be disproportionately affected by poverty? Why?
• Do minority groups experience or present special health concerns? Is, for example, HIV prevalence or the incidence of poverty-related disease or malnutrition different from the rest of the population? If so, what are the causes?
• What can be done to better ensure that social services are equally accessible and appropriate to the specific needs of women and men belonging to minority groups?
• What are the possibilities for the UN to help the Government to improve social policies supporting the provision of basic social services for minorities?
• What resources do minorities control or manage locally for service delivery? Are these gender-sensitive services?
• Are minority groups able to monitor the delivery of basic social services?
• Do the main social indicators such as hunger, child mortality rates, health conditions and school enrolment reflect any particular difference between the conditions of the mainstream society and that of minorities?

Promotion of inclusiveness and participation in development:

• While carrying out assessments and project design, have the widest possible consultations with the targeted groups been ensured?
• Have there been any efforts to ensure participation of the least powerful and assertive from these groups (i.e. women, people living with HIV, children, persons with disabilities, youth, non-citizens), including the creation of conditions to ensure their equal involvement in the process?
• Has the human rights-based approach to development been used to ensure the active, free and meaningful participation of those affected by the development processes?
• Have the legitimate interests of minorities been taken into account in the development of national policies and programmes including in the planning and implementing processes?  
  

Promotion and protection of the rights of minority children:

• How is the general situation of minority children in the country? What information is available to make an assessment of the situation? Do we need to improve our information?
• If there is an internal displacement situation, how is the situation of minority children being monitored?
• Is there any attention being paid to the needs of refugee children?
• Is children’s enjoyment of human rights, including access to education and health, freedom from exploitation and child labour ensured by national laws and in practice? Do effective enforcement mechanisms exist and do they take the situations and needs of minority children into account?
  

Promotion of the right of minorities to maintain associations:

• Is the right to form associations and trade union organizations ensured by national legislation and equally accessible to minority workers?
• Is there any particular obstacle in the country for minorities to fully enjoy these rights?
• Have there been any efforts by the existing minority civil society organizations to establish a network for exchange of information and coordination of actions?
  

Access to decent work and to productive assets:

• Do minorities have equal access to employment and income generating opportunities? What is the situation of minority women in this respect? Is there a tendency for minority women or men to be concentrated in certain occupations or sectors (i.e. domestic and care work, construction, manufacturing in export processing zone, etc)? If so, what are the working conditions that prevail in their workplaces?
• Does the existing regulatory and policy framework, particularly the labour legislation and national employment polices, take into account the work-related human rights of minorities? What are the implementation and enforcement mechanisms in place?
• Do minorities enjoy the fundamental principles and rights of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced labour and child labour, as well as freedom from discrimination? Are these rights guaranteed to minorities, in law and in practice, on an equal footing with other workers?
• Do policies and programmes promoting decent work, including those specifically focusing on minorities, take into consideration the specific position of minorities, and in particular of minority women, in the labour market and in the workplace? Are appropriate mechanisms in place to assess the impact of these policies and programmes?
• Do minorities have equal access to productive resources, including credit, technology, vocational and skills training, information, and land? Is there a gender disparity in access?
• Do minorities enjoy the right to adequate housing and how is this enjoyment related to their situation with regard to access to land and property?
• How is the distribution of productive and reproductive work organized within minority and non-minority households? Is there any strategy in place to address the unequal distribution of household responsibilities between women and men and better balance family and work responsibilities in the communities and in the society at large?
• What kind of formal and informal social protection measures are in place to protect workers? What kind of strategy can be supported to extend social protection coverage to minority workers, especially when they are concentrated in the informal economy?
• Is statistical information concerning the position of minorities in the formal and informal economy being collected and analysed on a regular basis?
• Are minority workers represented in trade unions and employers’ organizations and do they participate in social dialogue in the country?
  

Displaced minorities:

• Are there minority groups within an internally displaced or refugee population?
• What are the causes of their displacement and are these linked to their minority status?
• If displaced outside their country of origin, have they been given access to refugee status determination procedures? How have claims for refugee status been assessed?

Stateless minority populations and individuals:

• Have stateless minority populations and individual stateless persons been identified?
• Are births of minority children registered so as to document where they were born and to whom? Would birth registration programmes contribute to reducing statelessness?
• Is information available on nationality procedures in a form that is accessible and comprehensible to members of minorities?
• Are there mechanisms in place to reduce statelessness, such as facilitated naturalization based on lawful, habitual residence in the territory and acquisition of nationality at birth by children who would otherwise be stateless?
• Do stateless minority populations habitually resident in the territory enjoy the full range of civil, economic, social and cultural rights guaranteed to non-citizens under international law?

D. Checklist of issues for religious minorities:

• Have there been cases dealt with by courts or complaints brought to the attention of United Nations human rights treaty bodies or special procedures, in particular the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, with respect to the rights of persons belonging to religious minorities?⁴⁴
• Is there recognition and respect for the right to profess and practice religion without discrimination and interference from the State or others? Do guarantees exist for this?
• Are there any limitations or restrictions placed on the right to manifest one’s religion or belief?
• Is there freedom to adopt, change or renounce a religion or belief? How is freedom to adopt, change or renounce a religion or belief recognized and respected in law and practice?
• What measures are in place to ensure freedom to worship or assembly in connection with a religion or belief?
• Is social pressure or forced conversion an issue affecting the minority? If yes, how is the Government addressing this?
• Is there recognition of religious minorities’ holidays by the State? Are they recognized as public holidays?
• Is there recognition and protection of the right to hold religious ceremonies?
• What is the procedure for the appointment of religious leaders, priests and teachers, for those belonging to religious minorities?
• Do people belonging to religious minorities have the right to effectively participate in and be represented on religious advisory bodies? Where such advisory bodies exist, to whom do they provide counsel?
• Does the Government encourage interfaith and interreligious dialogue at all levels? How does it do so? Where communal and sectarian issues exist, how does the Government address such matters?
• Where religious education is a subject of the curriculum, what measures are in place, if any, to promote interfaith and interreligious understanding and dialogue?
• Does the Constitution or other national legislation declare the State to be secular and or officially recognize a religion or religions?
• Is there a requirement that the Head of State or other public officials belong to a certain religion?
• Is there a requirement to indicate religious affiliation in identity cards?
• What measures are in place to protect holy places, including for their non-desecration, and to ensure access to them by religious minorities?
• Is there government and authorities’ support for the repair and maintenance of religious buildings? Is such support subject to any restrictions?
• Do criteria exist for establishing new religious buildings and are they agreed to in consultation with minority religious representatives or institutions? In that regard, are the following issues of importance for the minority: keeping a geographical distance between different religious buildings or maintaining a distance between existing religious buildings and the establishment of a new religious building?

E. Checklist of issues in relation to minority women:

• Minority women’s access to specific social services, including education in their own language and culturally sensitive health care, child care facilities, etc.
• Minority women’s social and economic conditions and their relation to exploitation and abuse, including trafficking. How does poverty affect women and men differently within the minority community and the society at large?
• The situation of minority women vis-à-vis matrimonial property rights, land tenure and property in general.
• Access to employment and income-generating activities, including equal access to human and financial resources such as capital, credit, land, information and technology, training and skills development, market and saving opportunities, social networks, etc.
• Women’s level of participation in decision-making, including local development plans and poverty reduction strategies.
• Non-discrimination in relation to the acquisition, change and retention of nationality by women and passing on of nationality by women to their children and the impact on the lives of minority women and children.
• Barriers women face in accessing administration of justice services and the availability of specialized legal advice and legal literacy training.
• Violence within the community and ways of overcoming it from inside.
• Abuse and targeting of women in conflicts.
• Access to education and training – discrimination between boys and girls.
• Minority women’s equal access to humanitarian aid in conflicts or natural disasters.
• The particular situation of refugee and IDP women in camps where they may be at heightened risk of being subjected to sexual and gender based violence and face problems in accessing specific social and health facilities, water and sanitation, skill and vocational training, child care and other services.
• Particular discrimination against women on the basis of work of descent (caste) and gender, for example women being forced to do particular tasks such as manual scavenging or forced into prostitution.
• Interaction between various grounds of discrimination and the special situation of minority women in global migration. Specific vulnerabilities of minority migrant women to exploitation and abuse, including trafficking, need to be taken into account for policy formulation.
• Supporting dialogue with women belonging to minorities especially in conflict situations (with particular reference to Security Council resolution 1325).
• Assessing the impact of legislation and policies in addressing discrimination affecting women belonging to minorities.
• Supporting the training and empowerment of women belonging to minorities.
• Supporting the creation or work of organizations focussing on the issues of women belonging to minorities.

F. The UN can support the effective participation of persons belonging to minorities by ensuring:

• Their participation in the development, design, implementation and evaluation of UN programmes, particularly through civil society advisory or consultative bodies to the UN;
• Support for their participation in national, regional or local level government decision-making, particularly through advisory or consultative bodies;
• Promotion of their participation in cultural decision-making bodies or religious advisory bodies;
• Encouragement and empowerment for their participation in public and political life, including through sharing good experiences;
• The grounds for their involvement in the sharing of the benefits of development and economic progress in equal conditions as the rest of the society;
• Affirmative action to increase access for persons belonging to minorities to jobs and internships or fellowships programmes;
• Encouraging and assisting reform of discriminatory processes or electoral systems.

Try to ensure, among other things:

• Access to the UN’s work by minority groups;
• Participation of the least powerful (or non-dominant) in the process of programme planning and analysis of situation affecting women and children;
• Assessing the efficiency of the already existing consultation mechanisms before establishing new processes;
• Particular attention to understand the power relations and cultural behaviour and respect for cultural appropriateness of participation;
• Creation of ownership by the targeted group;
• When possible envisage promoting joint initiatives with minority organizations;
• As much as possible facilitate collaborative efforts and better coordination.