-3- various stakeholders in different regions are facing. It also gives minority communities an opportunity to raise their concerns and for government representatives to assess and improve their language-education policies. In this context, the advice of the international institutions and experts that work in this field are of particular importance. My office has strong expertise and many years of accumulated experience in the field of education as a tool for integration and conflict prevention. Our recommendations and guidelines – and in this context, beyond the Hague Recommendations, I am also referring to The Oslo Recommendations regarding the Linguistic Rights of National Minorities and The Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations on National Minorities in Inter‑State Relations – make the case for the relevance of minority education in conflict prevention. In particular, The Ljubljana Guidelines on Integration of Diverse Societies recognize the special role of education within integration policies in the context of cross-community dialogue and interaction. Based on those standards, I have provided advice to a number of OSCE participating States with the aim of ensuring that the implementation of domestic reforms in education is in line with a balanced approach. Let me also point out that, although the text of these recommendations has not been agreed by OSCE participating States, they are accepted as authoritative documents, based on the expertise of my office, reflecting lessons learned and best practices observed, and benefitting from close co-operation with specialized research institutions and key partner organizations, such as the Council of Europe. As I promote their implementation, I regularly remind my interlocutors that integration is a two-way process, and respect for minority rights, including in education, are part and parcel of any successful integration policy. During my country visits, I focus on the language in which education is delivered. I support governments in their endeavours to bridge linguistic divides. I encourage the authorities to support national minorities’ access to quality teaching of the State language as well as education in minority languages. My institution provides longstanding support for policies aimed at overcoming segregation in education and wider society, while supporting efforts to promote cohesion and integration through