5th Session of the Forum on Minority Issues

This year’s Forum highlighted the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of National on Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and focused on identifying positive practices and opportunities in applying the Declaration. In line with this theme, AUA representatives Ms. Jennifer Babaie and Mr. Alen Mirza from the United States each provided interventions focusing on the need of applying the Declaration in post-conflict situations, relying on the experience of Assyrians in Iraq and Syria to guide their recommendations.

Ms. Babaie’s statement stressed the need for enabling minorities and minority youth the ability to implement the rights enshrined in the Declaration, while Mr. Mirza’s speech emphasized the necessity of applying the positive obligations of national governments and UN institutions to secure the rights of minorities immediately following periods of conflict.