The United Nations Declaration On Minorities

Created in order to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992-2012), this publication aims to offer readers a comprehensive review, written by a variety of scholars in the field, of the value and impact of the standards formulated in the Declaration. In so doing, it hopes to stimulate attention for and debate around the Declaration and its principles. The regional perspectives and case studies included further enable the identification of positive initiatives and good practices as well as persistent gaps in the implementation of the standards enshrined in the Declaration.

The year 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities . It was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 1992 and is the primary UN document dedicated to the rights of minorities. Minorities throughout the world have benefited from the adoption of the Declaration as the international community recognized and codified their rights, and national governments took action to protect these rights. But there is still a long way to go in order to fully implement this historic Declaration. This guide aims to celebrate the international recognition of minority rights and to help community activists protect their rights at the national and local levels. We hope this guide will promote awareness of the Declaration among minority communities and help ensure that more governments respect the principles that it contains.

The First United Nations Mandate on Minority Issues describes the challenges in shaping a new mechanism for the UN’s protection of minority rights and contains reports on the plight of minorities in countries around the world.

The year 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities . It was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 1992 and is the primary UN document dedicated to the rights of minorities. Minorities throughout the world have benefited from the adoption of the Declaration as the international community recognized and codified their rights, and national governments took action to protect these rights. But there is still a long way to go in order to fully implement this historic Declaration. This guide aims to celebrate the international recognition of minority rights and to help community activists protect their rights at the national and local levels. We hope this guide will promote awareness of the Declaration among minority communities and help ensure that more governments respect the principles that it contains.

Of the CSCE (1990)

Outlines the procedures currently available for the promotion and protection of the rights of minorities within the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations.

"The present guide offers information related to norms and mechanisms developed to protect the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities. It includes detailed information about procedures and forums in which minority issues may be raised to minorities and by also covering selected specialized agencies and regional mechanisms, the present Guide complements information contained in Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society"--Introduction.