Over the last 50 years, various international treaties and conventions recognizing and protecting the rights of minority communities and individuals and outlawing discrimination have been developed by international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization or the European Union. These texts aim to ensure that minority communities and individuals from a minority background can enjoy the same human rights as anybody else such as the right to practice freely their religion, the right to participate to the public and political life of the country in which they live (…). Yet, across the world and on a daily basis, minority communities and individuals see their rights flouted in many ways. It can be by a multinational corporation which starts exploiting a diamond mine in Africa, forcibly evicting the community which has lived on the land where the mine is based for many, many years. It can be by a Constitution in a European country which prohibits minority individuals from running for presidency. In Asia, women from some ethnic groups are routinely ignored when they complain to the police about rape or physical attacks. Sadly, when such things happen, the communities and/or individuals whose rights are denied do not try to challenge the situation they face. This is because victims are unaware of the possibility of taking legal proceedings against those who have denied their rights. This is also because local lawyers from the countries where abuses happen are sometimes not confident enough to use in courts the specific texts protecting the rights of minorities. MRG has designed a programme to assist directly the minority communities and the individuals whose rights are not respected as well as the lawyers representing them. The programme encompasses a wide range of activities: it raises awareness of the possibilities of legally challenging violations of rights among minority communities/individuals through the organization of community workshops where people are informed of their rights and the best ways to protect them. It works hands-in-hands with the local lawyers defending victims to ensure that the best strategies are implemented in courts and to train them to then undertake other cases on their own in the future. We know that Governments sometimes try to ignore legal judgements that they don’t like and so we make sure that national and international media and decision-makers are aware of what is happening in a specific country through targeted advocacy campaigns. We are committed to support communities and individuals for as long as needed throughout the duration of a case, from evidence collection to the implementation of a positive judgement. All our cases come from some of the poorest and most discriminated against groups/individuals, from across the world. For some specific information on our on-going cases, please check http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=552.