Call for Input to a Report of Special UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues invites written submissions to inform the preparation of a 2024 report, which will highlight institutional arrangements of states relevant to tackling minority issues.

The report will be presented to the General Assembly at its 79th session in October 2024.

According to the call for submissions, “sharing experiences and showing achievements, as well as identifying shortcomings, is essential for improving the fate of persons belonging to minorities within national contexts.” 

Below are the questions for the Special Repperateur’s written submissions:

1. Do you consider the interests of persons belonging to minority groups appropriately taken into account in your country? If yes, how? If no, why?
2. Are there institutional arrangements that guarantee (or facilitate) effective political representation of persons belonging to minorities? For example, a Second Chamber in Parliament, the federal structure of the State, specific “minority institution” (such as a Council of Minorities or a dedicated Ombudsperson, or electoral mechanisms (quotas, separate lists for minorities).
3. Are there minority issues insulated from (or not subject to) State authorities’ decisions (including the Parliament)? (For example, constitutional guarantee; political/traditional agreement; competence on minority issues at a regional level, where the persons belonging to a minority represent the majority of the population).
4. Are there institutional arrangements and/or political practices that de facto exclude persons belonging to minorities from effective participation in decisions at the national – and, where appropriate, regional level – concerning the minority to which they belong?
5. Are there legal, administrative or other barriers that prevent persons belonging to minorities to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic or public life?
6. What are the benefits and/or challenges of recognizing and granting sectoral (for example, concerning sectors like education) or territorial autonomy to minorities?

Every submission will be posted to the official webpage of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues. In case civil society organizations or individuals want their submissions to remain confidential, they can explicitly request this in their submissions.

The Call and other relevant details can be accessed on the website of the OHCHR.