Item I – Introduction 1 Opening statement by the President of the Human Rights Council, H.E. Mr. Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi The President of the Human Rights Council opened the inaugural session of the Human Rights Council Forum on Minority Issues. He highlighted the participation of many representatives of minority groups from all regions of the world, bringing a wealth of personal knowledge and experience to the meeting, and underlined the Human Rights Council willingness to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. The President of the Council stressed that education is an issue which engages us all as we strive to promote and protect the rights of children from all communities, especially the most disadvantaged. He indicated that the Council looks forward to study the thematic recommendations which will be submitted by the Independent Expert in her forthcoming Report to its next session in March 2009. Welcome and opening remarks by the Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Ms. Gay McDougall The Independent Expert welcomed all the participants to the inaugural session of the Forum on Minority Issues, highlighting that its aims and objectives shall be to: 1. provide a platform for dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; 2. provide thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Independent Expert on minority issues; 3. identify and analyse best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Minorities; 4. produce thematic recommendations to be reported to the Human Rights Council ; and 5. contribute to efforts to improve cooperation among UN mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, funds and programmes on activities related to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including at the regional level. The Independent Expert underlined that the focus of this first session of the Forum has been put on an issue of utmost importance to minorities in all countries around the world: “Minorities and the right to education”. She stressed that although education is a fundamental human right, in all regions of the world minority children suffer disproportionately from unequal access to quality education – which in turns provides a 1 The full text of the opening statements is available on the forum’s web site at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/oral_statements_forum_minority_2008.htm 2