Priorities for the work of the Independent Expert and the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 2012, para. 40
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The independent expert emphasizes that while Governments bear the primary responsibility for protecting and ensuring the rights of all within society, minorities themselves also have a vital role and important responsibilities relating to their own communities and their place and integration in wider society. Article 2 of the Declaration establishes that "persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in decisions on the national and, where appropriate, regional level concerning the minority to which they belong or the regions in which they live, in a manner not incompatible with national legislation. Persons belonging to minorities also have the right to establish and maintain their own associations, and important component in the efforts of minorities to advocate for their rights".