GENEVA (6 September 2022) – The Africa-Middle East Regional Forum on minority issues will take place from 6-7 September 2022, with a focus on building stronger recognition and protection for the rights of minorities. The forum will mark the 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues Fernand de Varennes will convene the Regional Forum in coordination with the Tom Lantos Institute. The forum will be held online and will be open to the media. “Review-Rethink-Reform is the theme of this year’s Regional Forum. The time has come to reflect on the challenges facing minorities in Africa and the Middle East, the extent their situation has evolved in the last 30 years, and what is needed to build stronger rights recognition and protection, including in the region,” de Varennes said. Hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco, the Regional Forum will bring together around 200 representatives from 40 countries, UN and regional organisations, academics, civil society groups specialising in minority issues, and representatives of minorities. Speakers will include Abdelkarim Boujradi, Secretary General of the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights of the Kingdom of Morocco, Rémy Ngoy Lumbu, Chairperson, African Commission on Human and Peoples" Rights, Nouhoum Sangaré, OHCHR Regional Representative for Central Africa, Abigail Noko, OHCHR Regional Representative for Southern Africa, Benjamin Hounton, Deputy Regional Representative and OIC of OHCHR Regional Office for Western Africa, Marcel Akpovo, OHCHR Regional Representative for East Africa and to the African Unio and Anis Anani, Officer in Charge, MENA Section, OHCHR. The Regional Forum for Africa and the Middle East is the third of four regional fora convened by the UN Special Rapporteur in 2022. Discussions will inform the work and recommendations of the 15th session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues taking place in Geneva in December 2022. A livestream of the event will be available here. Simultaneous interpretation will be available in English, Arabic, French, Amazigh and Arabic Sign Language. More information about the speakers and the agenda of the Africa-Middle East Regional Forum on Minority Issues is available on the webpage. ENDS BACKGROUND Pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution 6/15 of 28 September 2007 renewed by resolution 19/23 of 23 March 2012, a forum on minority issues has been established to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as well as thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues. The Forum shall identify and analyse best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The Forum meets annually for two working days allocated to thematic discussions. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Dr Fernand de Varennes, is tasked to guide the work of the Forum, prepare its annual meetings and report on the thematic recommendations of the Forum to the Human Rights Council. For inquiries and media requests, please contact: Leticia Sakai (+4179 753 39 37/ leticia.sakai@un.org). For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Renato Rosairo De Souza (renato.rosariodesouza@un.org) and Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org). Follow news related to the UN"s independent human rights experts on Twitter: @UN_SPExperts Concerned about the world we live in? Then STAND UP for someone’s rights today. #Standup4humanrights and visit the web page at http://www.standup4humanrights.org