Since the end of the Cold War in 1990 followed by the break up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, minority issues such as the situations in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Georgia, the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Transnistra separation in Moldova, and the independence of Kosovo from Serbia have drawn the attention of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, as well as of non-governmental organizations who have tried to mediate and lessen conflict.

These areas of Eastern Europe had been of concern to the League of Nations as after the First World War, Eastern Europe was in disarray. Two multinational empires had crumbled: the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman and parts of Russia had also gained independence.

Minority treaties were signed with 14 Eastern European countries dealing with such issues as the right to citizenship, freedom of religion, the right to speak one's own language in private, in public and before a court of law. These treaties were declared to be obligations of international concern thereby legitimizing the League of Nations to supervise their implementation. The members of the Council of the League had the right to bring to the attention of the Council any threat of infringement of the rights established in the treaties.

The League created a Minority Section of the Secretariat under the dynamic leadership of Erik Colban of Norway . The Minority Section was a permanently operating body of international civil servants, regarded as professional and politically neutral. Through its work, the Minority Section of the League of Nations helped to forestall conflicts between States over minority issues. By establishing its authority and regular patterns of supervision, the Section managed to function with reasonable success until 1936 when both Romania and Poland denounced their treaty obligations. The seeds of war were thus planted, and in 1939 the Second World War broke out with the fate of German minorities in Czechoslovakia and Poland being the reasons given by Nazi Germany for its attacks.

After World War II with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations strictly emphasized the individual nature of human rights and human rights protection. Nevertheless, minority issues have continued to exist. The UN had created a Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities as an expert body of the UN Commission on Human Rights. However, in practice, it did not deal directly with minority issues being more concerned with racial discrimination in South Africa and discrimination against women. The Sub-Commission was the leader in preparing two World Conferences to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination held in Geneva in 1978 and 1983.

The World Conferences led to attention being given to indigenous and tribal peoples, and in 1983 the Sub-Commission created a Working Group on Indigenous Populations. The Working Group drafted a Declaration on Indigenous Rights, which after many years of discussion was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, and now, a yearly Forum of Indigenous Populations is held at the UN in New York to examine the respect and realizations of the rights of indigenous peoples.

However, indigenous and tribal peoples, long the forgotten stepchildren of intergovernmental organizations dealing with human rights are not the only minorities whose rights must be considered. Thus again, the Sub-Commission created a Working Group on Minorities which began work, basically hearing the reports of minority non-governmental organizations (NGOs). However, in the restructuring of the UN's human rights bodies, — the transformation of the UN Commission on Human Rights to the Human Rights Council, the Sub-Commission was abolished and with it the Working Group on Minorities.

The Human Rights Council created the post of Independent Expert on Minority Issues, currently Ms Gay McDougall of the USA . Under her leadership a Forum on Minority Issues was organized in 2008 and 2009. The aim of the Forum was to discuss issues and to produce thematic recommendations that are action-oriented and aimed at increasing the inclusion and recognition of minorities within the State, while enabling them to maintain their own identity and characteristics, thus promoting good governance and the integrity of the State. Such recommendations are drawn from the principles set out in “The Declaration on the Rights of persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

NGOs play a crucial role in the Forum bringing first-hand information of conditions , and they return to their home country with knowledge of international standards and useful contacts with NGOs in other countries. The World Citizens continue to play an important role in this human rights effort, stressing that we are all citizens of the world with a need to care for all peoples and the welfare of the planet.