The UN Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

The United Nations Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities provides a platform to address through awareness raising, advocacy and capacity building, issues of racial discrimination and the protection of national or ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities, including issues of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. The Network brings together more than 20 UN Departments, Agencies, Programmes and Funds.

OHCHR acts as permanent co-chair of the Network.

The Department of Global Communication (DGC) joins OHCHR to co-chair the Network in 2024.

General Assembly Side Event
Anti-Racism and Protection of Minorities in UN Programming
21 September 2023

On 21 September 2023, the Subgroup on People of African Descent of the UN Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities organized a side event on the margins of the UN General Assembly on the theme of Anti-Racism and Protection of Minorities in UN Programming. The aim of the event was to To share current efforts, promising practices,and innovative examples of programming which contribute to addressing racism and racial discrimination and to the protection of minorities at the country level, and to inspire further action in this regard. The outcome document is a record of the statements, questions from the floor and responses that have been shared during the side event, with slight adaptation of spoken words to a written text style. A number of chat contributions are also reflected at the end of the document.

Times of Crisis Pillar Summit
UPEACE, Costa Rica, 7 December 2022

Throughout 2022, the Times of Crisis Pillar of the United Nations Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (“the Network”) has worked to strengthen global discussion of racial discrimination and protection of minorities in peace and security, including prevention. On 7 December 2022, the Times of Crisis Pillar held a hybrid Summit at the University for Peace (UPEACE) in San José, Costa Rica. Participants to the Summit included primarily officials drawn from various parts of the United Nations system, as well as experts from civil society organizations and academia. The Summit was open to the public and was attended by a diverse global audience, including Senior United Nations officials, UN staff, independent experts, representatives of civil society, and students from UPEACE.

The Times of Crisis Pillar Summit was part of the celebration activities of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. It also complemented the thematic attention done in the period 2021-2022 by the Forum on Minority Issues on “Conflict Prevention and the Protection of the Human Rights of Minorities” and efforts by the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues who dedicated his 2022 annual thematic report to the theme of Conflict Prevention through the Protection of Minorities. To stimulate discussion and inform the way forward, the Summit also marked the launch of a conceptual paper on racial discrimination and protection of minorities in conflict-affected settings by the international civil society organization Minority Rights Group International (“MRG”). The paper was prepared throughout 2022 in close consultation with a number of United Nations agencies and entities, via the UN Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Times of Crisis Pillar.

Prepared as a follow-up to the Summit, the Summit Outcome Document provides a summary of the three thematic discussions which comprehensively mapped out the current situation of minority rights in relation with UN peace and security efforts, including prevention. The last section of this Outcome Document gathers recommendations that emerged during the Summit.

ONLINE TRAINING ON “ADDRESSING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND STRENGTHENING THE PROTECTION OF MINORITIES, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND OTHER POPULATION GROUPS IN UN PROGRAMMING PROCESSES”: Full Package of UNCT Course Training Material

DAY OF EVENTS ON INTERSECTIONALITY: The Intersectionality Pillar of the Network hosts a Day of Events on Intersectionality, Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on 27 September 2022. The day of events takes place in hybrid form, and features the launch of a Guidance Note on Intersectionality, Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. A flyer for the Day of Events is available at link, and includes information as to how to participate. Further details are available from laura.cahier@un.org.

VOICES FOR ACTION AGAINST RACISM: Statement of the UN Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on the International Day against Racial Discrimination 22 March 2022
العربية | Français | Pусский | Español
Portuguese Português | German Deutsch

Checklist to Strengthen UN Work at Country Level to Combat Racial Discrimination and Advance Minority Rights (also in العربية | Русский | Español )

UN Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities WORK PLAN 2021+

Report on Activities 2022: UN Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

Previous activity report (2021)

Inputs into Secretary General’s Call to Action on Human Rights Follow-Up: Agenda for Protection

MINUTES of the 8 February 2023 Senior meeting of the Network

About the UN Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

The United Nations Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities provides a platform to address through awareness raising, advocacy and capacity building, issues of racial discrimination and the protection of national or ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities, including issues of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

The Network brings together a range of UN Departments, Agencies, Programmes and Funds, which have identified focal points for this purpose. Members include DESA, DGC, DOCO, DPA, DPKO, ILO, OCHA, OHCHR, OSAPG, PBSO, UNAIDS, UNAOC, UNDP, UNEP, UNHCR, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNITAR, UNESCO, UNODC, UN Women, WFP and WHO.

OHCHR acts as permanent Co-Chair for the Network. The 2024 Co-Chair is the Department of Global Communictions.

Previous co-chairs: UNESCO (2021 and 2022), the Office of the Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide (2023).

See the full Network Work Plan for the period 2021-2025+

Send us your feedback:

OHCHR: claude.cahn@un.org

DGC: Jayashri Wyatt: wyatt@un.org

Publications and Documents

Guidance Note on Intersectionality, Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (2022)
PDF: English

Checklist to strengthen UN work at country level to combat racial discrimination and advance minority rights
PDF: العربية | English | Français | Русский | Español | Romanian