A/HRC/22/49 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 31 December 2012 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-second session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Independent Expert on minority issues, Rita Izsák Summary The present report provides an update on the activities conducted by the Independent Expert on minority issues since the submission of her previous report. The mandate holder provides a summary of her activities, including to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities in 2012, and an update on the work of the Forum on Minority Issues, the annual session of which the mandate is required to guide and prepare. The rights of linguistic minorities are established in international human rights standards, including the 1992 Declaration on Minorities. However, challenges to the enjoyment of the rights of linguistic minorities exist in all regions and include restrictions on the opportunities available to linguistic minorities to learn and receive education for their children in minority languages, and limitations on the use of minority languages in public life and the media. Globally many minority languages are under threat of significant decline or disappearance due to such factors as the dominance of national and international languages, processes of assimilation, and decline in minority-language users. The report contains a consideration of issues and challenges affecting linguistic minorities globally and conclusions and recommendations of the Independent Expert. GE.13-10019

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