particularly stressed education’s unmatched power to improve lives for girls and women. Referring to Article 26 of the UDHR, the High Commissioner highlighted that the right to learn and speak one’s own language and embody one’s own culture are basic constitutive elements of a life in dignity. She stated that children from minority communities are often denied the right to learn in their own languages. She noted that more than 258 million children and adolescents were out of school, and that many of these children denied the opportunity of schooling are from minority communities that suffer severe discrimination and exclusion; a disproportionate number are girls. The High Commissioner referred to UNESCO’s “Education 2030 Framework for Action” which aims to advance Sustainable Development Goal 4, including by enabling education systems to serve all learners -- including girls, members of ethnic and linguistic minorities, indigenous peoples, and people with disabilities. She stressed the need to use the amplifying power of education to help shape new generations of people who fully grasp and embody the human rights agenda – because this is how we can build a world of sustainable development, and enduring peace. OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier stressed the importance he attached to education in conflict and crisis prevention. Mr. Zannier emphasized the importance of dialogue among all relevant actors on the promotion of effective policies, including in education, that respect and support diversity, and thereby promote inclusive and stable societies. He emphasized the importance of raising awareness of how providing education in minority languages alongside opportunities for minorities to gain proficiency in the official language of the country where they reside can help build stable, integrated and cohesive societies. Lamberto Zannier stated that countries and regions that embrace multilingualism tend to have better educational outcomes. He also noted that investment in education policies that value diversity is increasingly acknowledged, as our societies grow more diverse. However, this has still insufficiently materialized in practice. He further stated that as a result of increasing political polarization – both within and between States – many still believe that the only tool for integration is the promotion of the State language. As a result, education laws and reforms are still too often shaped with that objective in mind and implemented without effective consultations with minority communities. He emphasized the need to join efforts and expertise to demonstrate that in the long term only a balanced approach will produce stability and prevent future crises. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues Fernand de Varennes welcomed the participants. He emphasized the centrality of language in terms of power, identity, and opportunity, warning that around the world minority languages, and particularly indigenous languages, were facing not only exclusion and discrimination because of the refusal by state authorities to use their languages, but also disappearing at an accelerated pace. This, he indicated was no accident, but because there have been over long periods of times measures, policies, practices and laws that have not allowed these languages to be used in education and other areas of public life, and even directly and quite intentionally. The Special Rapporteur stated that research shows that teaching in the language of a child is likely to lead to better academic results, including in terms of learning the official State language and other languages, longer periods of school attendance, and better integration of children, families and minority communities. He stated that in order to ensure quality education for everyone, and to leave no one behind, as much as possible, 3