A message on minority issues for the corporate world and international financial institutions

GENEVA (13 December 2010) – The international Forum on Minority Issues opens its third annual session in Geneva from 14-15 December. This year’s discussion will focus on minorities and their effective participation in economic life. The outcome of the Forum will suggest concrete proposals for governments, the private business sector, including national and transnational corporations, international financial institutions and multilateral development agencies, as well as civil society organizations, trade unions and national human rights institutions.

“Effective participation of minorities in all aspects of economic life is both a right of minorities and a key component in building societies that are fair, stable, and in which all may prosper equally,” said the UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Gay McDougall, who organizes the Forum and reports on its recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council.

This year’s Forum will be chaired by Prof. Gita Sen, Professor at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India, and Adjunct Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The Forum on Minority Issues was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2007 to provide a platform for dialogue and cooperation on matters of national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as well as thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Independent Expert on minority issues.

Every year, representatives from Governments, UN agencies, international al regional organizations, civil society and the academic world gather at the Forum on Minority Issues to identify and analyze best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

Third Session of the Forum on Minority Issues
“Minorities and effective participation in economic life”
14 and 15 December 2010
Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

Learn more about this year’s Forum, log on to: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/session3.htm

Ms. Gay McDougall (United States) was appointed as the first holder of the post of UN Independent Expert on minority issues in July 2005. The mandate of the Independent Expert was established to promote implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, and to identify challenges as well as successful practices in regard to minority issues.

Learn more about the mandate and work of the Independent Expert: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/expert/index.htm

Check the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/minorities.htm

For press inquiries and additional information on the Independent Expert’s mission, please contact Ms. Elizabeth Wabuge (Tel: +41 22 917 9138 / e-mail: ewabuge@ohchr.org) or write to minorities@ohchr.org