Government of Georgia It’s my honor to address the 10th section of the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues as Georgia's first-year delegate to the United Nations with ethnic minority background. At the outset, let me highlight that never before there have been so many young people in the world as there are today. There are currently 1.8 billion worldwide, representing hope for next generations and the biggest asset to transform our world and build sustainable future. Strategic investments are the mechanism to empower minority youth and not to leave us behind the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by providing to every single young person with an ethnic minority background equal opportunities and tools necessary to fully realize their potential. Young ethnic minorities should become agents of change and transformations in their countries by using every opportunity to shape a narrative of inclusive and diverse society, as well as to become bridges of connections across ethnic, cultural, linguistic and other differences of their societies. Young people of Georgia with ethnic minority backgrounds can have a meaningful and positive contribution in efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace, as well as in the resolution of conflict and building bridges between divided societies. In this respect, I, as a young man coming from ethnic minority background and representing every young person of my country here at the United Nations in Geneva, would like to use this opportunity to address my Abkhazian and Ossetian brothers and sisters living behind the occupation line. Indeed, the time has come for us, representatives of a new generation of our communities, to be agents of change by breaking the vicious circle and opening the way up to our cooperation for peace, stability, and prosperous joint future of our communities and the generations to come. I would like to confirm that I am ready to be an agent of positive change for you, my dear Abkhazian and Ossetian brothers and sisters. In conclusion, as a representative of the SDG generation, I want to stress the importance of the United Nations' assistance to young changemakers, including those who are coming from minority backgrounds, and support our efforts of building bridges for reconciliation of democracy.