A/HRC/43/47 person can freely belong to an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority without any requirement of citizenship, residence, official recognition or any other status. V. Update on the 2019 Forum on Minority Issues 71. The Forum on Minority Issues was established in 2007 by the Human Rights Council by its resolution 6/15 and reaffirmed in 2012 by its resolution 19/23. It is mandated to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and to provide thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues. The Special Rapporteur is tasked with guiding the work of the Forum, preparing its annual meetings and reporting to the Human Rights Council on its thematic recommendations. The Forum meets annually in Geneva for two working days allocated to thematic discussions. It brings together an average of 500 participants, including minorities, Member States, United Nations mechanisms, regional intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organizations. 72. The twelfth session of the Forum was held on 29 and 30 November 2019, with the theme “Education, language and the human rights of minorities”. As in 2018, the number of participants far exceeded the average level of previous years, with more than 600 participants counted. 73. Exceptionally, two co-chairs were appointed for the twelfth session by the President of the Human Rights Council, namely Anastasia Crickley, former chair of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and Astrid Thors, former OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. A total of 12 experts and members of minorities from different parts of the world took part in the four main panel discussions, on the topics of: human rights and minority language education; public policy objectives for education in, and the teaching of, minority languages; effective practices for education in, and the teaching of, minority languages; and language, education and the empowerment of minority women and girls. The Forum was opened on 28 November 2019 by the President of the Human Rights Council, followed by statements by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Lamberto Zannier, and the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, as well as remarks by the co-chairs. 74. The Special Rapporteur reiterated the crucial importance of the Forum on Minority Issues, which represents the only avenue for a number of minority rights activists to advocate for change at the international level. It is a positive and unique platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. He noted the high levels of participation in the Forum in 2019, with more than 200 declarations being made over the two days, as evidence of the timeliness and relevance of the theme of the 2019 Forum for many minorities around the world, and the vital role the Forum continued to play as a unique focal point of discussions and exchanges at the United Nations for minorities, civil society organizations and Member States. A total of 140 recommendations emanated from the three regional forums 21 and more than 100 from the Forum on Minority Issues itself. 75. The Special Rapporteur notes that, among the many recommendations made at the Forum, the emphasis was on the importance of ensuring the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4 on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Many minorities from around the world who had participated in the Forum emphasized the importance of equal treatment and nondiscrimination based on the language they spoke or chose to learn. The Special Rapporteur also notes that, for the first time, international sign language interpretation was provided 21 The recommendations of the three regional forums are available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Minorities/IntegratedAfricaRecommendations.pdf, www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Minorities/IntegratedAsiaPacificRecommendations.pdf and www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Minorities/IntegratedEuropeRecommendations.pdf. 15