| Type | Non-governmental organization |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960s |
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Focus | Minority rights Indigenous rights |
| Website | minorityrights.org |
Minority Rights Group International (MRG) is an organisation founded with the objective of promoting respect for the human rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples around the world. Their headquarters are in London, with offices in Budapest and Kampala.
The organisation was set up in the 1960s by a group of activists and academics "who feel a special concern that the rights of minorities to preserve and develop their cultural integrity are being infringed in many countries ... the MRG has been established to protect the rights of minorities to co-exist with majorities, by objective study and consistent international public exposure of violations of fundamental rights as defined by the UN Charter"[1]. Its first director was Laurence Gandar, a prominent newspaper editor and anti-apartheid campaigner from South Africa.
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MRG uses a campaigning approach, which includes advocacy, media work, legal cases, research, publishing and providing training for civil society groups that work with minorities and indigenous peoples. MRG is an accredited non-governmental organisation with the United Nations and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. It works closely with around 150 partner organisations around the world, who advocate on behalf of minorities and indigenous communities.
MRG produces a regularly updated online resource, the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, which provides profiles of minority communities in every country of the world. It also publishes an annual report, the State of the World's Minorities, and an annual index, Peoples Under Threat, which ranks countries according to the degree of physical danger facing minorities.