This
project was proposed on the occasion of a meeting organized
by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies within
the framework of the United Nations Sub-Commission Working
Group on Minorities (hereafter referred to as "the
Working Group on Minorities"), which brought together
the Chairman of the Working Group and its former and
current Secretaries, as well as a number of representatives
from regional non-governmental organizations, including
the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (Sri Lanka),
Minority Rights Group (UK), the European Centre for
Minority Issues (Germany), the Institute for Sustainable
Development (Guatemala), and the Arid Lands Institute
(Kenya).
At this meeting, it was brought home that many projects,
programs and initiatives are being carried out in the
field of minority protection at international, regional
and national levels; however, these are all too often
undertaken in a disparate and isolated fashion. It was
stated that few formal networks on minority issues have
been developed, especially at regional level, and that
there exist hardly any minority umbrella organisations
through which activities can be channeled and streamlined.
In addition, a number of activities have been suggested
by the Working Group on Minorities, which, for a number
of reasons, it has been unable to pursue. In view of
this, a clear need was identified to draw these activities
together and provide a coherent framework for ongoing
and future activities, from within and outside the United
Nations, in order to ensure the harnessing of the work
of the UN and other initiatives.
The overall aim of this project is to address this need.
To this end, the project has been designed on the basis
of a two-pronged strategy, as follows: a) responding
to expressed needs regarding the promotion and protection
of the rights of minorities, and; b) catalysing further
positive developments in the field of minority protection.
Coordinator: Jeevan Thiagarajah
|
