United States of America The United States welcomes this opportunity to address the 10th Forum on Minority Issues. We look forward to a productive and meaningful exchange of ideas and best practices over the next two days on efforts that states can take to address the important concerns of minorities, particularly minority youth. While recognizing that every state, including the United States, has a lot of work to do, we would like to highlight some of the steps among many that the United States has been taking in the areas that are the focus of this forum. In recognition of the limited time and the large number of participants in this forum, we will limit our interventions to the themes to be discussed by the panels. With regard to participation in public and political life, the United States is firmly committed to ensuring that youth around the world can be active participants in civil society organizations, local parties, innovation, and community action at every level and in all areas. Productive youth engagement with governments promotes global and cultural competencies that drive innovation, promote diversity and tolerance, and build stronger, more inclusive democracies. Conversely, when youth are repressed, confidence in the government recedes and can generate frustration that makes youth vulnerable to dangerous narratives that espouse disenfranchisement and violence. We recognize the ongoing disparities in access to quality education outcomes specifically faced by youth from racial, ethnic, and other minority groups. We support inclusive educational opportunities that produce greater academic outcomes, build economic prosperity, and lead to stronger democratic institutions. We realize that many institutional barriers continue and minority youth engagement must be specific and deliberate in order to produce significant results that have an impact on access to educational outcomes. In the United States, youth are actively engaged with government officials to discuss both challenges and ideas for change and we are stronger for it. Thank you.