Forum offers a unique opportunity for all stakeholders, including Member States, representatives of civil society, the United Nations and other international and regional organizations to share experiences and to promote good practices. Such dialogue is essential as there are no easy answers or one-size-fits-all solutions in this area. The right to effective political participation can entail specific mechanisms in governmental bodies and in decentralized and local forms of government, and it can in some cases be achieved through cultural or territorial autonomy arrangements. While there are many legitimate options, we must ensure that the approach chosen results in effective minority participation. By bringing together different actors from within and outside the United Nations system, the Forum will be able to provide valuable guidance not only to the work of the Independent Expert on Minority Issues but also for actors at international, regional and national levels. Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen Allow me to reaffirm once more our Office‘s continuous commitment to minority rights. The substantive input we provide to the work of the Forum on Minority Issues is intended, inter alia, to support enhanced minority engagement with relevant UN bodies. In addition to supporting the important work of this Forum, we are committed to stepping up our awareness-raising and training activities on the implementation of the Declaration with the view to advance a better understanding of its contents and provide a critical overview as to its current use in various contexts. In addition to advancing the Declaration as such, we are pursuing focused activities on key themes, For example, our regional consultations on Good Practices in Policing and Minority Communities offers an opportunity to share and collect experiences while focusing on practices that have proven to be successful. The OHCHR Minorities Fellowship Programme is an important activity of the Office as it serves to build capacity 4