A/HRC/25/19 their participation in the third Annual Fellowship Programme for People of African Descent. 12. The Rabat plan of action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence was launched by my Office in February 2013, and is now an important platform for our work in the field. 2. Discrimination on the basis of indigenous or minority background 13. The leadership of OHCHR in the United Nations Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership was complemented by dialogue with indigenous peoples in, inter alia, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Indonesia and the Congo. The Office published, with the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, a manual on indigenous peoples’ rights. Its support for the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples facilitated the adoption of a new study on the access of indigenous peoples to justice. OHCHR contributed to the preparation of the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples by supporting the capacity of indigenous peoples to contribute to the process through the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations. The indigenous fellowship programme included 26 fellows from 20 countries. OHCHR also endeavoured to advance respect for indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of business operations, including through the operationalization of the principle of free, prior and informed consent in Latin America and elsewhere. In Colombia, the role of OHCHR in promoting dialogue contributed to a historic agreement on territorial units, enhanced protection for ancestral lands, and a plan of action concerning isolated indigenous peoples, reached between the Government and indigenous peoples, providing concrete steps for the exercise of their rights. 14. The efforts made by OHCHR to promote and protect minority rights included its leadership in the new United Nations network on racial discrimination and minorities. In March, the Secretary-General endorsed a guidance note on racial discrimination and protection of minorities, in which he called on the United Nations to focus on the most marginalized minorities, whose rights are particularly at risk. In many countries, this translates into a focus on religious minorities, whose rights were the focus of the Forum on Minority Issues in November 2013. 15. In various European countries, the human rights of Roma continued to be at serious risk. In the Republic of Moldova, the Office supported efforts aimed at setting up an equality body as envisaged in the 2012 Equality Law, and assisted the national human rights institution in challenging discriminatory laws in court, and in pressing for desegregation in localities practising separate schooling for Roma. In Serbia, assistance was provided to the authorities in the integration of human rights standards in Roma housing programmes and on the consultation and participation of affected communities in their implementation. 16. Other areas of concern ranged from participation of minorities in decision-making to the promotion of the right to use minority languages. In April 2013, the Government of Kyrgyzstan adopted a policy to promote minority representation in State bodies and to protect minority languages, with advice provided by OHCHR. In Libya, support was provided through the human rights component of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya for the adoption in July of a law on the rights of cultural and linguistic components. 17. OHCHR also initiated an Arabic and English language minority fellowship programme and issued a practical guide for minority rights advocates. 5

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