The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

 Seminar on  

Minority Rights: Cultural Diversity and Development in Southeast Asia Chiang Mai, Thailand, 4 to 7 December 2002

Draft Programme

Background information

The United Nations Working Group on Minorities has requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize seminars, workshops or other similar activities in different regions of the world. The purpose of these activities is to raise awareness of the United Nations work on minority issues; to promote dialogue between and among minorities and the majority population to better understand sub-regional approaches by sharing experiences in the protection and promotion of minority rights, and empower minority communities.

From 2000 to the present, the Office has organized three workshops on multiculturalism in Africa (Arusha in 2000, Kidal in 2001 and Gaborone in 2002) and one seminar on Afro-descendants in La Ceiba in 2002.

At its 8th session in May 2002, the Working Group on Minorities recommended that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organize a seminar on approaches to minority issues in the Asian region. In addition, the Working Group decided that one of the main themes of its 9th session (2003) will focus on development. OHCHR has therefore planned to organize, in association with the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), University of Chiang Mai in Thailand, a sub-regional seminar on the theme of cultural diversity and development in connection with minority issues in Southeast Asia.

The objectives of the seminar are the following:

1. to identify priorities in the area of minority issues in Southeast Asia for the future activities of the OHCHR.

2. to raise awareness of the work of the UN Working Group on Minorities, the work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the work of international human rights mechanism on minority issues,

3. to outreach to communities to further involve minority representatives and grass roots NGOs from this region in the Working Group’s activities and other international human rights mechanisms,

4. to seek possibilities for networking with civil society and community-based organizations with a view to strengthening cooperation in the field of minority issues of the region.

Venue and date

It is proposed that the seminar be organized for 4 days, to include one day of training.

The proposed themes to be discussed are following:

1. Day One : Training on how to utilize UN human rights mechanisms

• Introduction to the UN Declaration on Minorities, the Working Groups on Minorities and other international human rights mechanism

2.      Day Two: Current situation of minority peoples in Southeast Asia

• The concept of “minority” and “indigenous” in the Southeast Asian context and whether there is a need to make the distinction between minorities and indigenous peoples in such a context and the question of self-identification of ethnic groups.

• National legislation regarding ethnic groups whether they are recognized and the implementation of this practice. The legislation and its application on birth registration, identity cards, the collection of disaggregated data and the access to education and health services for holders of birth registration and identity cards.

3. Day Three: Participation in development

• Rethinking the concept of development and how to assess better the needs of minority communities in terms of development,

·        The involvement of communities in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of strategies for development at the national and local levels,

·        Ideas for empowering minorities to ensure their consultation and participation in decision-making processes, and their benefiting from development.

4.      Day Four:       

·        Conclusion and recommendations for future work.

Project partners and participants

The project envisages partnership with organizations involved in human rights and minority issues including the Regional Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN agencies in the sub-region. Minority representatives, grass roots NGOs, international experts on minority issues will be invited to attend the seminar.  The number of participants will be between 40 to 45, invited from the following Southeast Asian countries or provinces including Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Yunnan Province of China.

Working papers

By Professor Charles Keyes, University of Washington and National University of Hanoi.

By Ms. Narumon Arunotai, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

-        Example of Laos, by Ms. Vattana Pholsena, National University of Singapore

-        Example of Vietnam, by Ms. Duong Bich Hanh, Independent expert, Vietnam

Proposed outputs

The project envisages the following outputs:

(a)    Provide an opportunity to minorities for an assessment of their needs in terms of human rights, including strengthening capacity building of grass roots NGOs,

(b)   An evaluation of the seminar with recommendations for future action on minority issues in Asia/Pacific that might be considered for the OHCHR in cooperation with other international organizations,

(c)    A report containing recommendations and conclusions for submission to the Working Groups on Minorities at its 9th session in May 2003.