FUEN congratulates the new UN Special Rapporteur, Prof Fernand de Varennes

The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) congratulates Prof Fernand de Varennes with his appointment as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues by the UN Human Rights Council. 

De Varennes is a Canadian national and minority rights expert, who has published extensively about minority rights across the world. FUEN appreciates the work he has been doing as an academic expert on minority issues, e.g. through his contribution to the latest handbook published in March by his predecessor as UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, on the “Language Rights of Linguistic Minorities“.

The mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur is to promote the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Minorities and to examine ways and means of overcoming existing obstacles to the full and effective realization of the rights of persons belonging to minorities. To that end he cooperates closely with other relevant United Nations bodies and takes into account the views of nongovernmental organisations, e.g. within the framework of the annual United Nations Forum on Minority Issues in Geneva. 

As the largest umbrella organisation of the autochthonous national minorities in Europe, with more than 90 member organisations in 32 countries, FUEN is looking forward to working together with Special Rapporteur Fernand de Varennes for the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national and linguistic minorities in Europe and beyond.

More information:
Handbook on the “Language Rights of Linguistic Minorities“
Website of the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues