-2Dear Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Distinguished Madame President, Dear members of the Human Rights Council, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my pleasure and honour to address you during the 14th session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues, which is dedicated to a topic that lies at the heart of my mandate - Conflict Prevention and the Protection of the Human Rights of Minorities. I would like to thank a dear friend and partner of my Institution, the UN Special Rapporteur Dr. Fernand de Varennes, for the invitation. Only this year, we already joined forces to organize a couple of events that highlighted the most important aspects of conflict prevention and minority protection, including the effective inclusion of minorities and the critical role of their socio-economic participation. Today, let me share with you some ideas on what I consider is essential to build strong, cohesive and prosperous societies that can contribute to maintaining sustainable security and peace in the OSCE region and beyond. I believe we can all agree that prevention is better than cure, and that taking proactive measures to prevent conflicts is more effective in the long run than implementing measures to counter the consequences of a conflict that has already taken place. Thus, preventing conflict is an integral part of the security dimension of the OSCE, and the cornerstone of my mandate. As stipulated in the Copenhagen Document of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE/OSCE): “full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the development of societies based on pluralistic democracy and the rule of law are prerequisites for progress in setting up the lasting order of peace, security, justice and co-operation (…) in Europe.” I would like to emphasize that in my mandate, the human rights-oriented approach to minority protection has been set into a security context for a very important reason. From my mandate’s perspective, an inclusive, cohesive and peaceful society cannot operate without having an adequate system in place to protect minorities – one in which minorities feel they are equal, and fully respected members of society. This system requires the existence of interrelated building blocks consisting of, among others, the right of minorities to their own identity, to have their languages, religions and cultures respected, to have integration without