United Nations Forum on Minority Issues Video statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet 29 November 2018 Greetings. The Forum on Minority Issues is a unique platform for Member States to engage with minorities, civil society organisations and UN bodies, to share policies and practices, and to develop recommendations to uphold the rights of persons belonging to minorities. I welcome the focus of this year's Forum on statelessness. To be stateless often means being deprived of access to many essential human rights and fundamental freedoms. In many cases, stateless people face a life without education or employment opportunities, and without adequate access to medical care or other basic public services, including access to justice. Statelessness may also make them particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. And it does not just happen. People are made stateless – by policies which fail to ensure that all persons are provided with a nationality without discrimination. Studies have shown that three quarters of the world’s stateless people belong to minorities. Minorities may be particularly susceptible to being forcibly displaced within their country – or forced to migrate – both of which make them vulnerable to becoming stateless. And it is also true that stateless people – many of whom are minorities – are more vulnerable to forced displacement and migration This vulnerability is often particularly acute for stateless women – who may also be prevented from enjoying a range of human rights, including their sexual and reproductive