Gay McDougall Opening Remarks UN standards when referring to countries and territories. Time management will be challenging and I count on the cooperation of everybody to that end. In order to allow the largest possible participation and to have a more inter-active format, we ask that your interventions during the discussion period be limited to no more than 3 minutes and be focused on the draft Recommendations as well as: a) the identification of challenges and problems facing minorities and States; b) the identification of good practices; and c) the consideration of opportunities, initiatives and solutions. Once again, this Forum will seek to provide concrete and tangible outcomes in the form of thematic recommendations of practical value to all stakeholders. Therefore, a set of draft, action-oriented recommendations has been made available to all participants and will constitute the basis for discussions during the two-day session. Given that the principal nature of this Forum is to be a platform for dialogue, as in previous years we will not seek to negotiate or adopt the final content of the Recommendations. Rather, all contributions will be collected and considered in detail and, the final thematic Recommendations will be reported to the Human Rights Council during its Sixteenth session in March 2011. _______________________________________________________ Distinguished participants, The Forum on Minority Issues offers a unique and essential opportunity to come together in a spirit of cooperation and constructive endeavor to address some of the key minority issues that continue to challenge States and minorities in all regions. This third session of the Forum will focus on an issue of considerable importance to minorities and States around the world: “Minorities and Effective Participation in Economic Life”. 3|Page