In 2019, for the first time in its history, the UN Forum on Minority Issues was complemented by a series of thematic regional forums. The goal of these regional forums was to make the UN Forum more accessible for minorities, and to provide more effective responses to problems affecting them, while taking into account regional contexts and realities. Convened by the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Dr Fernand de Varennes, the regional forums were organised by the Tom Lantos Institute, in partnership with regional and local organisations.

A wide range of stakeholders, including states, intergovernmental organisations, human rights organisations, minorities, representatives of civil society, academics, and regional and global experts participated in the these regional forums.

Between 2019 and 2022, 3 physical, 1 hybrid, and 9 online regional forums were held, in four regions (Europe-Central Asia, Africa-Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Americas). Each year, the regional forum’s theme corresponded to that of the UN Forum on Minority Issues, including:

education, language and the human rights of minorities (2019); hate speech, social media, and minorities (2020); conflict prevention and the protection of the human rights of minorities (2021); and the 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (2022).

As one of the main outputs of the regional forums, region-specific recommendations were developed by the participants, which then informed the work of the Forum on Minority Issues, by providing regional insights and feeding into the Special Rapporteur’s report the UN Human Rights Council.

These regional recommendations are accessible on the official website of the Special Rapporteur, and the full documentation of all the Regional Forums – including video recordings – are available on the Minority Forum Info website.

In 2019, a draft UN General Assembly resolution supporting the Regional Forums was put forward. The resolution (A / RES / 74/165) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 2019.