Statements about the situation of minorities
In 1993, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) was granted an advisory status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This enables the different sections of STP International to submit written and oral statements concerning various human rights issues to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. In these statements, we address the situation of minorities in the countries that will be discussed during the meetings. Thus, for example, we have already provided the Human Rights Council with several reports dealing with slavery in Mauritania.
Representatives of minorities speak before UN bodies
As part of our work, we try to ensure that representatives of indigenous peoples and ethnic and religious minorities are able to speak before UN bodies or to participate in so-called "side events". These events take place alongside the official program of the Human Rights Council. We often organize events like this ourselves.
Meetings with diplomats
Thanks to our status, we can also take part in UN-events such as the World Climate Summit, which is held in another country every year, or the UN Conference on Women in New York. Our delegations hold talks with diplomats and exchange ideas with representatives of other NGOs. For diplomats, it is often an important experiences to actually meet victims of state abuse and to receive first-hand insight into how the members of ethnic, religious minorities and indigenous peoples are being persecuted. The representatives of the minority groups benefit from being able to express their concerns directly.
Our human rights work has an impact
Of course, our UN work and our critical comments are not always appreciated. Thus, states that are often criticized by us are trying to push us and other non-governmental organizations out of the United Nations. For us, this is a clear sign that our human rights work has an impact!
Our UN statements from the last years at a glance
You can find all our UN statements from recent years here: past UN statements