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Gender and all forms of discrimination, in particular racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance 2001, para. 1g
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments, the United Nations and civil society, as appropriate]: The Platform for Action recognized that women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as their race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability, because they are indigenous women or of other status. Many women encounter specific obstacles related to their family status, particularly as single parents, and their socio-economic status, including their living conditions in rural, isolated or impoverished areas. Additional barriers also exist for refugee women, other displaced women, including internally displaced women, as well as for immigrant women and migrant women, including women migrant workers. Many women are also particularly affected by environmental disasters, serious and infectious diseases and various forms of violence against women;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2001
Paragraph
Violence against women 1998, para. d
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments and the international community:] Integrate effective actions to end violence against women into all areas of public and private life, as a means of working to overcome the violence and discrimination that women face because of such factors as race, language, ethnicity, poverty, culture, religion, age, disability and socio-economic class or because they are indigenous people, migrants, including women migrant workers, displaced women or refugees;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 1998
Paragraph
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995, para. 225
- Paragraph text
- Many women face additional barriers to the enjoyment of their human rights because of such factors as their race, language, ethnicity, culture, religion, disability or socio-economic class or because they are indigenous people, migrants, including women migrant workers, displaced women or refugees. They may also be disadvantaged and marginalized by a general lack of knowledge and recognition of their human rights as well as by the obstacles they meet in gaining access to information and recourse mechanisms in cases of violation of their rights.
- Body
- Fourth World Conference on Women
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 1995
Paragraph
Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development 1994, para. 10.3
- Paragraph text
- Governments of countries of origin and of countries of destination should seek to make the option of remaining in one's country viable for all people. To that end, efforts to achieve sustainable economic and social development, ensuring a better economic balance between developed and developing countries and countries with economies in transition, should be strengthened. It is also necessary to increase efforts to defuse international and internal conflicts before they escalate; to ensure that the rights of persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, and indigenous people are respected; and to respect the rule of law, promote good governance, strengthen democracy and promote human rights. Furthermore, greater support should be provided for the attainment of national and household food security, for education, nutrition, health and population-related programmes and to ensure effective environmental protection. Such efforts may require national and international financial assistance, reassessment of commercial and tariff relations, increased access to world markets and stepped-up efforts on the part of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to create a domestic framework for sustainable economic growth with an emphasis on job creation. The economic situation in those countries is likely to improve only gradually and, therefore, migration flows from those countries are likely to decline only in the long term; in the interim, the acute problems currently observed will cause migration flows to continue for the short-to-medium term, and Governments are accordingly urged to adopt transparent international migration policies and programmes to manage those flows.
- Body
- International Conference on Population and Development
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 1994
Paragraph
Further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 2000, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The Platform for Action recognizes that women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as their race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability, because they are indigenous women or of other status. Many women encounter specific obstacles related to their family status, particularly as single parents, and to their socio-economic status, including their living conditions in rural, isolated or impoverished areas. Additional barriers also exist for refugee women, other displaced women, including internally displaced women, as well as for immigrant women and migrant women, including women migrant workers. Many women are also particularly affected by environmental disasters, serious and infectious diseases and various forms of violence against women.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2000
Paragraph
Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development 1994, para. 6.21
- Paragraph text
- Indigenous people have a distinct and important perspective on population and development relationships, frequently quite different from those of the populations with which they interrelate within national boundaries. In some regions of the world, indigenous people, after long periods of population loss, are experiencing steady and in some places rapid population growth resulting from declining mortality, although morbidity and mortality are generally still much higher than for other sections of the national population. In other regions, however, they are still experiencing a steady population decline as a result of contact with external diseases, loss of land and resources, ecological destruction, displacement, resettlement and disruption of their families, communities and social systems.
- Body
- International Conference on Population and Development
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 1994
Paragraph
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The Platform for Action recognizes that women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as their race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability, because they are indigenous women or because of other status. Many women encounter specific obstacles related to their family status, particularly as single parents; and to their socio-economic status, including their living conditions in rural, isolated or impoverished areas. Additional barriers also exist for refugee women, other displaced women, including internally displaced women as well as for immigrant women and migrant women, including women migrant workers. Many women are also particularly affected by environmental disasters, serious and infectious diseases and various forms of violence against women.
- Body
- Fourth World Conference on Women
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 1995
Paragraph
New York Declaration For Refugees and Migrants 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- We recognize and will address, in accordance with our obligations under international law, the special needs of all people in vulnerable situations who are travelling within large movements of refugees and migrants, including women at risk, children, especially those who are unaccompanied or separated from their families, members of ethnic and religious minorities, victims of violence, older persons, persons with disabilities, persons who are discriminated against on any basis, indigenous peoples, victims of human trafficking, and victims of exploitation and abuse in the context of the smuggling of migrants.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to water (Art. 11 and 12) 2002, para. 16f
- Paragraph text
- [Whereas the right to water applies to everyone, States parties should give special attention to those individuals and groups who have traditionally faced difficulties in exercising this right, including women, children, minority groups, indigenous peoples, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, migrant workers, prisoners and detainees. In particular, States parties should take steps to ensure that:] Refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons and returnees have access to adequate water whether they stay in camps or in urban and rural areas. Refugees and asylum-seekers should be granted the right to water on the same conditions as granted to nationals;
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2002
Paragraph
The right to water (Art. 11 and 12) 2002, para. 16g
- Paragraph text
- [Whereas the right to water applies to everyone, States parties should give special attention to those individuals and groups who have traditionally faced difficulties in exercising this right, including women, children, minority groups, indigenous peoples, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, migrant workers, prisoners and detainees. In particular, States parties should take steps to ensure that:] Prisoners and detainees are provided with sufficient and safe water for their daily individual requirements, taking note of the requirements of international humanitarian law and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2002
Paragraph
The right to water (Art. 11 and 12) 2002, para. 16e
- Paragraph text
- [Whereas the right to water applies to everyone, States parties should give special attention to those individuals and groups who have traditionally faced difficulties in exercising this right, including women, children, minority groups, indigenous peoples, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, migrant workers, prisoners and detainees. In particular, States parties should take steps to ensure that:] Nomadic and traveller communities have access to adequate water at traditional and designated halting sites;
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2002
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities are not a homogenous group. They include: indigenous women; refugee, migrant, asylum seeker and internally displaced women; women in detention (hospitals, residential institutions, juvenile or correctional facilities and prisons); women living in poverty; women from different ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds; women with multiple disabilities and high levels of support; women with albinism; and lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender women, and intersex persons. The diversity of women with disabilities also includes all types of impairments which is understood as physical, psychosocial, intellectual or sensory conditions which may or may not come with functional limitations. Disability is understood as the social effect of the interaction between individual impairment and the social and material environment, as described in article 1.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Article 12: Freedom of movement 1999, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- States have often failed to show that the application of their laws restricting the rights enshrined in article 12, paragraphs 1 and 2, are in conformity with all requirements referred to in article 12, paragraph 3. The application of restrictions in any individual case must be based on clear legal grounds and meet the test of necessity and the requirements of proportionality. These conditions would not be met, for example, if an individual were prevented from leaving a country merely on the ground that he or she is the holder of "State secrets", or if an individual were prevented from travelling internally without a specific permit. On the other hand, the conditions could be met by restrictions on access to military zones on national security grounds or limitations on the freedom to settle in areas inhabited by indigenous or minorities communities.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 1999
Paragraph
The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence 2011, para. 72g
- Paragraph text
- [Elements to be mainstreamed into national coordinating frameworks. The following elements need to be mainstreamed across the measures (legislative, administrative, social and educational) and stages of intervention (from prevention through to recovery and reintegration):] Children in potentially vulnerable situations. Groups of children which are likely to be exposed to violence include, but are not limited to, children: not living with their biological parents, but in various forms of alternative care; not registered at birth; in street situations; in actual or perceived conflict with the law; with physical disabilities, sensory disabilities, learning disabilities, psychosocial disabilities and congenital, acquired and/or chronic illnesses or serious behavioural problems; who are indigenous and from other ethnic minorities; from minority religious or linguistic groups; who are lesbian, gay, transgender or transsexual; at risk of harmful traditional practices; in early marriage (especially girls, and especially but not exclusively forced marriage); in hazardous child labour, including the worst forms; who are on the move as migrants or refugees, or who are displaced and/or trafficked; who have already experienced violence; who experience and witness violence in the home and in communities; in low socio-economic urban environments, where guns, weapons, drugs and alcohol may be easily available; living in accident- or disaster-prone areas or in toxic environments; affected by HIV/AIDS or who are themselves HIV infected; who are malnourished; looked after by other children; who are themselves carers and heads of households; born to parents who are themselves still under 18; who are unwanted, born prematurely or part of a multiple birth; hospitalized with inadequate supervision or contact with caregivers; or exposed to ICTs without adequate safeguards, supervision or empowerment to protect themselves. Children in emergencies are extremely vulnerable to violence when, as a consequence of social and armed conflicts, natural disasters and other complex and chronic emergencies, social systems collapse, children become separated from their caregivers and caregiving and safe environments are damaged or even destroyed;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside Their Country of Origin 2005, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Staff involved in status-determination procedures of children, in particular those who are unaccompanied or separated, should receive training on adopting an application of international and national refugee law that is child, cultural, and gender-sensitive. To properly assess asylum claims of children, information on the situation of children, including those belonging to minorities or marginalized groups, should be included in government efforts to collect country of-origin information.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2005
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Certain segments of the population face a greater risk of suffering intersectional and multiple discrimination. For instance, investment-linked evictions and displacements often result in physical and sexual violence against, and inadequate compensation and additional burdens related to resettlement for, women and girls. In the course of such investment-linked evictions and displacements, indigenous women and girls face discrimination both due to their gender and because they identify as indigenous people. In addition, women are overrepresented in the informal economy and are less likely to enjoy labour-related and social security protections. Furthermore, despite some improvement, women continue to be underrepresented in corporate decision-making processes worldwide. The Committee therefore recommends that States parties address the specific impacts of business activities on women and girls, including indigenous women and girls, and incorporate a gender perspective into all measures to regulate business activities that may adversely affect economic, social and cultural rights, including by consulting the Guidance on National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights. States parties should also take appropriate steps, including through temporary special measures, to improve women’s representation in the labour market, including at the upper echelons of the corporate hierarchy.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Right to self-determination 1996, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The Committee notes that ethnic or religious groups or minorities frequently refer to the right to self determination as a basis for an alleged right to secession. In this connection the Committee wishes to express the following views.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 1996
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Among the groups that are often disproportionately affected by the adverse impact of business activities are women, children, indigenous peoples, particularly in relation to the development, utilization or exploitation of lands and natural resources, peasants, fisherfolk and other people working in rural areas, and ethnic or religious minorities where these minorities are politically disempowered. Persons with disabilities are also often disproportionately affected by the negative impacts of business activities, in particular because they face particular barriers in accessing accountability and remedy mechanisms. As noted by the Committee on previous occasions, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants are at particular risk of facing discrimination in the enjoyment of Covenant rights due to their precarious situation, and under article 7 of the Covenant, migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, long working hours, unfair wages and dangerous and unhealthy working environments.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition 2013, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls belonging to minority communities, rural and indigenous women, migrant women, refugee women and those seeking asylum, and poor women face discriminatory practices in the implementation of laws on nationality and citizenship. They face prejudicial attitudes as well as structural obstacles which limit access to formal registration of births, marriage, residence and other citizenship documents as well as to relevant information on their rights as citizens. Women who are de facto heads of households, including those who have been abandoned by their husbands, whose divorce is not legally registered, or whose husbands have been forcibly disappeared and do not have death certificates for their husbands , are denied recognition of their status in official documents. Without such access, women from these communities become disproportionately vulnerable in exercising their full and equal rights as citizens.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- In some cases, non-citizens are subject to double discrimination as both migrants and members of minority groups. During her missions, the Special Rapporteur has encountered numerous cases of migrants from minority groups who have been denied residency permits even though they have lived in the host country for decades or even generations. The lack of regularization obstructs their access to housing in private markets as well as housing assistance from local governments. The Special Rapporteur also received numerous complaints of forced eviction of migrants belonging to minority groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The housing sector in the global South has not been subject to extensive financing of homeownership. Only about 17 per cent of the population in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia and Zambia, for example, would be eligible for mortgage finance based on existing criteria. Low-income, informal and indigenous communities have nevertheless experienced, first-hand, the power of financial corporations to appropriate land and real estate and to generate vast disparities in wealth by treating housing and land as commodities. The displacement of Garifuna communities by model cities containing luxury developments for tourists and wealthy residents in Honduras is an example of the kinds of displacements of communities and forced evictions that are occurring in many countries (see A/HRC/33/42/Add.2, para. 56). Many local and national governments looking for capital investment have opted to sell land to major developers at the expense of indigenous and impoverished communities and those living in precarious housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Conservation measures and their impact on indigenous peoples’ rights 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- A 2016 study by the Rainforest Foundation of 34 protected areas in five countries in the Congo Basin (Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo) found that indigenous communities have virtually no tenure security over their traditional lands in any of the five countries. The creation of at least 26 of the protected areas resulted in partial or complete relocation or displacement of local indigenous and farming communities present in the area prior to park establishment. In no case was any reparation for the displacements reported. Furthermore, of the 34 protected areas studied, 25 bordered with logging concessions, 19 overlapped with mining concessions and 9 overlapped with oil concessions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Economic exclusion is a cause, a manifestation and a consequence of discrimination against persons belonging to minorities. Many minorities have historically been excluded from full and effective participation in economic life, both in the developed and in the developing world. Minorities are often discriminated against when they seek employment, for example, on the basis of their colour, their religion, their language, their names, or even their addresses. Minorities are often poorly represented even in public sector employment and despite legislation that bans discrimination in both public and private sectors. They may face barriers in accessing credit or loans to begin small businesses and may live in the poorest regions or remote areas that offer limited prospects for their economic development. Equally, large-scale economic development projects or commercial activities carried out on the lands and territories where minorities live without their prior consultation has had negative impacts, including displacement, the perpetuation of poverty and, in some cases, violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
The role and activities of national institutional mechanisms in promoting and protecting minority rights 2012, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Institutional attention to minority rights can assist in international cooperation and prevent international tensions relating to the treatment of minorities. The existence of minorities in a State may have cross-border implications, in cases where, for example, they have a "kin" State or external religious ties. Minorities have the right to maintain peaceful contacts across frontiers. Owing to historical or geopolitical factors, the treatment of minorities may be sensitive. The Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has produced recommendations on national minorities in inter-State relations. While protection of minorities is primarily the responsibility of the State of residence, States are encouraged to conclude bilateral treaties and arrangements, share information and concerns, pursue interests and ideas, and support minorities on the basis of friendly inter-State relations. States are recommended to use instruments, including advisory and consultative bodies such as minority councils or joint commissions, and establish mediation and arbitration mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Rights of linguistic minorities 2013, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Historical factors such as colonialism have had a huge global impact on languages, resulting in the marginalization of indigenous and minority languages and a rapid decline in their use. The introduction of colonial languages in Africa, Asia and the Americas initiated the marginalization of native and minority languages. Colonial languages were promoted in education, administration, political life and communications. Minority and indigenous languages were often seen as backwards, a barrier to colonial hegemony, or as slowing national development. It can also be argued that today globalization is having a direct and detrimental impact on minority languages and linguistic diversity, as global communications and marketplaces require global understanding.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Rights of linguistic minorities 2013, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Failure to recognize minority languages may stem from a broader lack of State recognition and acknowledgement of an ethnic or linguist minority group. This may be due to a number of factors, including historical, geographical and political factors and tensions over land and territory. Hence some minorities claim that a process of cultural assimilation may take place that constitutes a grave violation of their rights. In countries with federal structures, the imposition of local or regional languages as the official language of regional states has reportedly resulted in members of some linguistic communities being rendered functionally illiterate and excluded from participation in the public life of the regions in which they live, including on the basis of their lack of language proficiency.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Rights of linguistic minorities 2013, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The minority rights principles of non-discrimination, equality, participation and consultation must be respected, including with respect to language, to ensure that the issues and views of minorities are taken into account and their needs are adequately addressed. Linguistic minorities must be consulted and have a full and meaningful role in decisions affecting them, including relating to the shaping of language policy and practice, nationally and in the regions in which they live, in such key areas as education and official and administrative communications. Their views, perspectives and concerns should be fully taken into account to ensure that language issues do not become sources of grievances or conflict.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Rights of linguistic minorities 2013, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Proficiency in the State language is sometimes a requirement for access to citizenship and has proved problematic for some who lack such proficiency. While it is legitimate for States to impose some language requirements in order for minorities to fully integrate into society and have access to opportunities for employment, no undue restrictions should be imposed, for example for those who have been long-term residents of a country. Language proficiency should not be the primary criteria for or a barrier to acquisition of citizenship, particularly where official languages have changed. Adequate language-education opportunities should be made available, including for those who may face particular challenges due to such factors as age, income or the locality in which they live.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Rights of linguistic minorities 2013, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Some persons belonging to minorities may face particular challenges in learning the national language, including the elderly and those who have not attended education in their country of residence, those with low incomes, the relatively newly arrived, and in some cases women. For them, the ability to engage administrative authorities and receive information and documents in their language can be essential to their ability to comply with administrative requirements and to benefit from administrative and social assistance to which they are entitled. Where larger and established minority language communities exist in a country, it is necessary to ensure to the fullest extent possible that public institutions in all relevant regions are equipped to handle interactions in minority languages if required.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Preventing and addressing violence and atrocities against minorities 2014, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- In its commentary on the Declaration (see E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2005/2), the Working Group on Minorities stated that the protection of the existence of minorities included their physical existence, their continued existence on the territories on which they lived and their continued access to the material resources required to continue their existence on those territories, and that they should neither be physically excluded from the territory nor excluded from access to the resources required for their livelihood. The Working Group considered that the right to existence in its physical sense was sustained by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and that forced population transfers intended to move persons belonging to minorities away from the territory on which they lived, or with that effect, would constitute serious breaches of contemporary international standards, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph