A short history of minority issues at the UN

In 1947 the newly established Commission on Human Rights set up the ‘Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities’ with responsibility to make recommendations on issues including the protection of minorities. Over the years the Sub-Commission expanded its mandate to address other human rights issues, gradually reducing its focus on minorities.

In the early 1990s, the conflict in the Balkans refocused the attention of the international community on the need for minority protection. In 1992 the UN unanimously adopted a Declaration on Minorities and in 1995 established the Working Group on Minorities (WGM) to monitor the implementation of the Declaration. In 1999, in recognition of the reality that the Sub-Commission no longer exclusively focused on minorities, it was renamed the ‘Sub-Commission on the promotion and protection of human rights’. This left the WGM as the only forum dedicated to addressing issues relating to minorities.

In 2005, following recommendations from the WGM and a campaign by NGOs, the Commission on Human Rights established an Independent Expert on Minority Issues (IEMI) in an attempt to enhance the UN’s work on minorities. The mandate of the IEMI is different to the WGM and the two mechanisms complement each other. The WGM provides a forum where minorities can make statements about their situation and can discuss issues directly with government representatives. The IEMI can receive written information from minorities and can take up specific situations with governments on their behalf. The IEMI can also conduct country visits to meet with government representatives and minorities.