FORUM ON MINORITY ISSUES 15 and 16 December 2008 Palais des Nations, Geneva SUMMARY BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE FORUM Ms. Viktória Mohácsi, Member of the European Parliament In its resolution 6/15 of 28 September 2007, the Human Rights Council established a forum on minority issues, to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as well as thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the independent expert on minority issues. The Forum is to identify and analyze best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the further implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The Forum is open to the participation of States, United Nations mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, funds and programmes, intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations and mechanisms in the field of human rights, national human rights institutions and other relevant national bodies, academics and experts on minority issues and nongovernmental organizations. The inaugural session of the Forum took place on 15 and 16 December 2008 at the United Nations, Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Pursuant to resolution 6/15, the President of the Human Rights Council appointed Ms. Viktória Mohácsi as the Chairperson of the first session of the Forum. The Chairperson is to prepare “a summary of the discussion of the Forum, to be made available to all participants of the Forum”. This summary is to be complemented by the report of the independent Expert on Minority Issues on the Forum, which will be submitted to the Human Rights Council at its next session in March 2009 (documents A/HRC/10/011 and Add.1). This summary does not provide the details of all the presentations made during the session of the Forum. The list of speakers at the Forum, and when available the full text of their presentations, can be found on the Forum’s web site at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/forum.htm 1