Dear friends, The Commission has adopted 3 resolutions / decisions on minorities, all by consensus. At present they do not seem to be available on the Webster but I hope they soon will be. Decision L43 creates a voluntary fund for minority-related activities! Although this is of course very exciting news, firstly it has to be approved by the General Assembly or the Secretary General, and secondly, such a fund relies on states making financial contributions to it. As yet, I have spoken to some states about this and none have shown great enthusiasm to contribute funds. But we will be lobbying on this. Decision L47, originally intended to establish an International year for minorities, was amended (by the UK again) to merely "taking note of" the Sub-commission's recommendation to establish a year, and to encourage UN agencies to cooperate to contribute to the implementation of the minorities declaration. Apparently the UK argued that a decision to establish a year should be taken by the General Assembly. Resolution (L.75) calls, among other things, for the High Commissioner to request the opinion of states and NGOs on the results and achievements of the WGM (this was requested by the UK - they are critical of the WGM and want to build up support to have it closed), and submit a study of "options for the timely identification of minority issues and pertaining measures ... taking into account the assessment and recommendations by the Working Group as well as the proposals contained in Document E/CN.4/2004/75 ...". The document referred to is the report of the High Commissioner on possible mechanisms to improve minority protection, and the proposals contained within it include a Special Rep. of the Sec. General on Minorities, a Special Rapporteur on Minorities, etc. So the new study should evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of creating such mechanisms. The resolution also calls on UN agencies to cooperate more on minority issues particular with regard to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, and to engage with governments in dialogue for that purpose. Cheers, Chris Kind regards, Chris Chapman
International Officer
http://www.minorityrights.org/Radio4.
Minority Rights Group International
54 Commercial Street (Floors 2-4)
London E1 6LT
United Kingdom
Direct tel. +44 (0) 20 7422 4222; Switchboard +44 (0) 20 7422 4200
Fax +44 (0) 20 7422 4201
E-mail chris.chapman@mrgmail.org
Website www.minorityrights.org