-2- Excellencies, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Dr. Fernand de Varennes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues, When I took over the mandate of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, just over a couple of years ago, I quickly realized how important education is in our work to prevent crises and conflict. In fact, my office has promoted education as an area of strategic importance for developing conflict prevention mechanisms and policies for more than 20 years. As early as in 1996, my predecessor Max van der Stoel launched a set of recommendations, The Hague Recommendations regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities, which set out key principles in this field, principles that are still valid and relevant today and which inspire my engagement in this field. That is why I have decided to join our efforts with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, and with many other stakeholders this year and contribute to the European and Asian Regional Forums by sharing best practices from the OSCE area, as well as presenting our initiatives in the education field. I am interested to hear the regional recommendations reflecting on human rights standards, including the rights of national minorities, which will feature in this year’s Minority Forum. Today and tomorrow, we have a common aim: we are looking for ways to further engage governments and other stakeholders to invest in education as a tool for conflict prevention. In this context, I would like to emphasize the importance of dialogue among all relevant actors on the promotion of effective polices, including in education, that respect and support diversity, and thereby promote inclusive and stable societies. Our main task today is to raise awareness of how providing education in minority languages alongside opportunities for minorities to gain proficiency in the official language of the country where they reside can help build stable, integrated and cohesive societies. I appreciate the fact that this Forum provides a platform for an informal exchange on the practical challenges related to teaching in minority languages that