In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, provides an overview of activities undertaken since his previous report (A/HRC/46/57). In the thematic section of the report, he discusses conflict prevention through the protection of the human rights of minorities. Violent conflicts have increased around the world in recent years and most of the drivers of these conflicts involve minority grievances of exclusion, discrimination and inequalities linked to violations of the human rights of minorities. It is necessary to mainstream the human and minority rights framework in order to provide a more effective early warning tool and thereby help to prevent violent conflicts, and the international community must fill the significant gaps in conflict prevention mechanisms, which are failing to focus on the main drivers in most contemporary conflicts.