10 PROMOTING AND PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS forum for human rights dialogue and makes recommendations to the General Assembly for the development of international human rights law (see chap. III).
However, it is also important to remember that minorities are entitled to all of the rights accorded to those who live within the jurisdiction of the State.
OHCHR is proactive in advocating for minority rights. Consistently focusing on the human rights of persons belonging to minority groups, it strives to have their issues mainstreamed throughout the United Nations system and by many different stakeholders.
They can also establish contacts with NGOs and intergovernmental organizations. The five-week programme, begun in 2005 and currently conducted in English and Arabic, has built the capacity of more than 65 representatives from different ethnic, religious and linguistic minority communities to work more effectively on minority issues.
Minority rights are part of the general human rights framework and must be protected through national legislation, appropriate government policies, and the support of the civil society.
Article V protects minority rights by requiring more than a slight majority to approve of any change to the constitution. If the minority is not small, the constitution stays the same. If one major party wants a constitutional amendment that the other party doesn't, the amendment won't pass.
However, the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, which covers the protection of freedom of speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government to redress grievances, reflects how minority rights are also respected. This allows the minority to be heard and even later become the majority.
Minority protection is where the law allows the minority holders to enforce certain rights in certain instances which can be termed “exceptions to the rule in Foss V Harbottle”[6].