UNITED NATIONS • Forum on Minority Issues Preface Gay McDougall - Former United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues As the first holder of the mandate of United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues, I have had the privilege and honour to guide the work of the Forum on Minority Issues and to prepare its first three annual sessions. The Forum has become a magnet, drawing to the chambers of the United Nations those population groups who have proudly identified themselves by their distinct ethnicity, religion, language or culture, but who have at the same time felt marginalised on the basis of their identity. They have found in the Forum a mechanism to amplify their voices, to dialogue with their governments and to feel empowered by the support of the international community for their rights. In the first four annual sessions, the Forum addressed some of the most fundamental concerns that were raised with me by minority communities in the 17 countries that I visited during my tenure as Independent Expert. The first session of the Forum, in December 2008, focused on minorities and the right to education, recognizing that although education is a fundamental human right of every person, in all regions of the world disadvantaged minority children suffer disproportionately from unequal access to quality education, depriving them of the opportunity to fulfil their potential and contribute fully to their own communities and to the wider society. Moving beyond issues of physical access to schools, participants discussed the importance of minority language instruction, that school curricula reflect minority cultures and history, and that minority students be protected from hostile or racist environments in schools. In November 2009, the second session of the Forum focused on the right of minorities to effective political participation. It built on the premise that societies flourish when all voices are heard, when all opinions are considered and when all citizens are enabled to participate in political institutions and decision making at all levels. Yet minorities are almost always under-represented in national Parliaments, in local government and in other areas of public life. Participation in the public and political life of the nation is a right that must be guaranteed to all regardless of ethnic, religious or linguistic identity. Effective participation in economic life was the thematic focus of the third Forum in December 2010. Economic exclusion is often the most devastating consequence of discrimination against many minority groups. Many minorities have historically been excluded from full and effective participation in economic life, both in the developed and in the developing world. Minorities are often discriminated against when they seek employment, on the basis of their colour, ethnicity, race, religion, language or Compilation of Recommendations of the First Four Sessions 2008 to 2011 v