Mr. Neil Buhne Director of the UNDP Geneva Liaison Office Excellencies, President of the Human Rights Council, High Commissioner for Human Rights, Chair of the Forum on Minority Issues, Special Rapporteur, Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, It is a pleasure for me to be here today and to speak on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the seventh annual Forum on Minority Issues. As the UN’s development organisation with a presence in more than 170 countries and territories, our main mission is to achieve the simultaneous eradication of poverty and significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion. Respect for human rights is a sine qua non for societies to achieve those objectives, and to advance on the path towards higher levels of human development, peace and security. Excellencies,