A/HRC/31/27 enhancing stakeholders’ understanding of minority rights, encouraging legislative and policy changes and identifying good practices. A. Work to strengthen advocacy and capacity 6. The annual Minorities Fellowship Programme is aimed at providing individuals from minority groups with in-depth knowledge of the United Nations human rights machinery and strengthening their advocacy skills to better use international human rights standards and mechanisms. In 2015, the event was held between 26 October and 28 November, and comprised two linguistic components, English and Russian. Fellows came from Albania, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Republic of Moldova and Sri Lanka. It also included new elements, including a practical training module that covered project design, effective fund-raising for human rights, and documenting human rights violations. 7. The Senior Minority Fellowship Programme brought to Geneva a Korean ethnic minority advocate from Japan, who worked within the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section of OHCHR in order to gain specialized knowledge that he could take back to his community. 8. In November 2015, OHCHR organized a side event aimed at assessing the progress made and challenges remaining in the United Nations system in addressing the situation of minorities since the establishment of the Working Group on Minorities. It also considered how to ensure that the Forum on Minority Issues would continue to contribute effectively to the promotion and protection of minority rights. 9. In view of the International Decade for People of African Descent, the human rights situation concerning people of African descent was a major focus of the work of the United Nations during the period under review. The High Commissioner, as coordinator of the International Decade, participated in the first regional meeting under the programme of activities of the International Decade for People of African Descent for Latin America and the Caribbean in Brasilia, held on 3 and 4 December 2015. The objectives of the meeting were to raise awareness about the Decade, to foster regional ownership of the activities and spirit of the Decade, and to increase engagement of national and regional actors in the implementation of the programme of activities and to address the concerns of people of African descent. OHCHR also supported related mechanisms and implemented a fellowship programme for people of African descent. B. Regional and country engagement: areas of focus 10. During the period under review, the High Commissioner spoke out against a range of human rights violations targeting minorities, and urged States and international actors to address them at an early stage. The High Commissioner publicly stressed that, if we attend to minority rights only after slaughter has begun, we have already failed. 11. In January 2015, OHCHR released a report on the situation of human rights in Libya and on related technical support and capacity-building needs, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 25/37 (A/HRC/28/51). The report contained information on the bodies of seven Egyptian Coptic Christians that were found near Benghazi. In February, more than 30 Egyptian Copts were detained in Benghazi, allegedly tortured and ordered to convert to Islam by Ansar al-Sharia, before being released a few days later and deported to Egypt. In the report, OHCHR recommended reviewing and strengthening legal and policy protections that guarantee the rights of, inter alia, minorities and take measures to facilitate access to justice for those groups. 3