‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ Nelson Mandela Education for all is a goal that has been reaffirmed by states the world over many times in the last decade. It is meant to be achieved by 2015. But as this book clearly shows, a quality education is not reaching the world’s most vulnerable communities: minorities and indigenous peoples.In Central Africa, the great majority of indigenous Batwa and Baka have not had access even to primary education. In South Asia, Dalit girls are prevented from pursuing their education not just because of poverty, but through discrimination and sexual violence. In many countries in Europe, Roma children continue to be placed in segregated classes or in special schools for those with learning disabilities, just because of their ethnicity. In Latin America, millions of indigenous and African descendant children, instead of being in school, work in fields and plantations, in the mines, or at home.In a unique collaboration with UNICEF, Minority Rights Group International reports on what minority and indigenous children around the world face in their struggle to learn. State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2009 profiles the programmes that are being developed to help them – from better bilingual education to meeting the needs of nomadic populations – giving examples of what works and why. It describes efforts to overcome exclusion so that education is available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable for minorities and indigenous peoples, and shows how far there is still to go.It includes: - An analysis of available statistics that show that minorities and indigenous peoples are the most likely to suffer discrimination and exclusion in education worldwide. - First-hand accounts of the difficulties and challenges facing minority and indigenous children in every major world region. - Coverage of the key issues for promoting the right to education, including overcoming the double discrimination faced by minority and indigenous girls, the need to collect data by ethnicity, and the importance of bilingual or plurilingual education. - A unique statistical analysis and ranking of Peoples under Threat 2009. State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples is an invaluable reference for policy makers, academics, journalists and everyone who is interested in the conditions facing minorities and indigenous peoples around the world.

A decade into the new century sees religious minorities confronting serious violations of their rights around the globe. Following the violent attacks of 11 September 2001, governments of every political hue have used “war on terror” rhetoric to justify the repression of religious communities. Other religious minorities have faced a violent backlash, often unjustly accused of siding with belligerents. In Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, armed conflict and land seizures have forced minority and indigenous communities away from locations central to their religious beliefs. Europe has witnessed gains by extreme right-wing political parties which are targeting religious minorities with their inflammatory language. In Central Asia, governments have introduced tough new registration requirements for religious communities and prevented the building of places of worship. In State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2010, Minority Rights Group International offers a comprehensive overview of the situation faced by minorities in a world increasingly divided along religious lines. It includes: - An analysis of government initiatives that contribute to the marginalisation of religious minorities, such as religious profiling and registration laws. - First-hand accounts, from around the world, of the discrimination and exclusion faced by those belonging to minorities who wish to exercise their right to freedom of religion and belief. - An exploration of grassroots efforts through interfaith dialogue to ease tensions, overcome conflicts, and promote peaceful and equitable development. - An overview of the human rights situation of minorities and indigenous peoples in every major world region. - The unique statistical ranking and analysis, Peoples under Threat 2010. An invaluable reference for policy makers, academics, journalists and everyone who is interested in the human rights situation of minorities and indigenous peoples around the world.

Across the world, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are subjected to hate crimes, systematic discrimination and marginalization. Religious minorities have recently faced particular threat in certain regions, while in other parts of the globe identity based on race or ethnicity has been used as a basis for exclusion. In The First United Nations Mandate on Minority Issues, Gay McDougall curates a selection of reports she produced as UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues. The collection, with her introductory analysis, reveals the challenges and opportunities faced in her attempt to highlight the plight of these oppressed communities around the world and to shape an important new mechanism for the UN’s protection of their rights.

The ideological function of the postcolonial 'national', 'liberal', and 'developmental' state inflicts various forms of marginalisation on minorities, but simultaneously justifies oppression in the name of national unity, equality and non-discrimination, and economic development. International law plays a central role in the ideological making of the postcolonial state in relation to postcolonial boundaries, the liberal-individualist architecture of rights, and the neoliberal economic vision of development. In this process, international law subjugates minority interests and in turn aggravates the problem of ethno-nationalism. Analysing the geneses of ethno-nationalism in postcolonial states, Mohammad Shahabuddin substantiates these arguments with in-depth case studies on the Rohingya and the hill people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, against the historical backdrop of the minority question in Indian nationalist and constitutional discourse. Shahabuddin also proposes alternative international law frameworks for minorities.

This report, Minority Rights: The Key to Conflict Prevention, cogently argues that an understanding of minority rights is essential for anyone dealing with conflict prevention and resolution. The report’s authors, Clive Baldwin, Chris Chapman and Zoë Gray, demonstrate the strong links between minority rights violations and the outbreak of major conflicts, drawing on research carried out in China, India, Iraq, Kosovo, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Sudan, among other states. MRG’s report shows how minority rights violations are often warning signs of an approaching conflict. This new report looks at five themes: minority identity, the ability of minorities to participate in political and economic life, land/property rights and justice issues. Using case studies and providing practical advice, the authors show why ignoring early warning signs in any of these areas could lead to a build up of tensions and ultimately, violent conflict. The international community’s record on minority rights and conflict prevention is examined and found wanting. The report concludes with a checklist and a series of recommendations aimed at international bodies working on conflict prevention and resolution.

Minorities and indigenous peoples in Kenya feel excluded from the economic and political life of the state. They are poorer than the rest of Kenya's population, their rights are not respected and they are rarely included in development of other participatory planning processes. This report discusses the abuse of ethnicity in Kenyan policies, arguing that ethnicity is a card all too often used by Kenyan politicians to favour certain communities over others in the share of the nation's wealth. Kenya: Minorities, Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Diversity exposes these concerns in detail via the analysis of budgetary expenditure in the poor Turkana region, which is dominated by the minority Turkana people, and in the richer Nyeri region, home of Kenya's current President. The author, Maurice Odhiambo Makoloo, calls for immediate action to address the inequalities and marginalization of communities, as a way of ensuring that Kenya remains free of major conflict. It calls for disaggregated data - by ethnicity and gender - and a new Constitution to devolve power away from the centre, so that minority and indigenous peoples stand to benefit from current and new development programmes.The report argues that Kenya's diversity should be its strength and need not be a threat to national unity. Suppressing and denying ethnic diversity is the quickest route to inter-ethnic conflict and claims of succession. The report calls for urgent action.

‘The way in which we treat minorities is the measure of civilization of a society.’ Mahatma Gandhi In the era of globalization, societies are becoming more diverse. Every country around the globe exhibits some ethnic, religious or cultural diversity. Instead of an asset to be celebrated, however, governments too often treat this as a threat. States in every world region repress the rights of their minorities or even deny their existence. For some minorities or indigenous peoples, their very survival is at stake. In addition to the war in Iraq, which remained the focus of intense media attention, over 20 further major armed conflicts were ongoing in other parts of the world in 2005, as well as a range of lower intensity conflicts. In three-quarters of these armed conflicts, violence was targeted at specific ethnic or religious groups. Yet many of these conflicts could have been prevented if minority and indigenous rights had been respected. This first edition of the State of the World’s Minorities looks at key developments over the last year affecting the human rights and security of ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples. It includes: - a Preface by the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Juan E. Méndez - analysis of trends and legal developments by leading authorities on minority rights - an overview by world region highlighting main developments and areas of concern - statistical data on Peoples under Threat 2006 - ratification tables for the main minority rights treaties and extracts from recently concluded treaties. This major new reference work provides an objective analysis of how minorities and indigenous peoples are treated around the globe – and, with it, a measure of the civilization of our societies.