UNICEF is honoured to be part of this year's session of the Forum on Minority Issues, particularly in the wake of the appointment of the new Independent. Expert, Ms. Rita Izsak. We would like to welcome her in her new role and wish her success in her journey to promote the rights of national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities around the world. We look forward to deepening our collaboration in the coming years. This year's theme: "Guaranteeing the Rights of Minority Women" comes at a time when we in UNICEF are renewing our equity-focus with the aim of ensuring that the most excluded and marginalized' children are reached with services necessary to ensure their survival, development and protection. Our Mission Statement obligates us to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social, and economic development of their communities through our country programmes, using the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as our primary points of reference While education is widely recognized as a fundamental human right of every individual, in practice, minority populations generally lag behind in all levels of education due to persisting situations of exclusion rooted in history. it is important to underscore the common issues affecting minority child ren in general: Education systems are yet to respond to issues which are pertinent to the realisation of the rights of minority children, particularly those whose mother tongue is a minority language, and thus contribute to their exclusion. Rules imposing a national language of instruction in schools deny children the opportunity the right to learn in their mother tongue, contrary to the article 30 of the CRC which provides that: In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language (Article 30). Additionally, textbooks frequently reinforce stereotyped images of minority groups, resulting in further stigmatization and social exclusion. The Convention on the Rights of the Child underscores the opportunity presented by the education system to prepare the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship