A/HRC/FMI/2025/2 Forum will emphasize that peaceful coexistence and cohesion between dominant groups and minorities are essential for conflict prevention, sustainable development and building stable and resilient societies. 9. The Forum will highlight good practices and practical measures that are based on the full and effective participation of minorities in public, cultural, social and economic life. These practices contribute to preventing and mitigating tensions between minorities and dominant groups, ultimately fostering diverse, resilient and peaceful societies. 10. The theme of the eighteenth session of the Forum aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 10, on reducing inequalities within and among countries, and 16, on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. In terms of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and the Goals and their targets, minorities remain among the most marginalized and structurally excluded populations who should not be left behind. Ensuring their proper inclusion in society as a whole while respecting their identities is therefore essential for envisioning a future in which reduced inequalities and access to justice are central to sustainable peace (see the report on the right to identity of persons belonging to minorities of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues).1 11. The Forum will acknowledge the challenges linked to the complex reality of contemporary societies, in which minorities often face tensions not only with dominant groups, but also sometimes within and between minority groups. These tensions are frequently rooted in long-standing structural discrimination, political and economic exclusion and unequal access to basic services. Such challenges are felt especially acutely by marginalized groups within minorities, including women, youth, older persons, migrants, persons with disabilities and persons with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity, who face intersectional discrimination both from dominant groups and from within their own communities. 12. At the same time, the Forum will seek to underscore the transformative potential of inclusive societies, in which institutions and frameworks should be based on representation, participation, non-discrimination and equality principles to empower minority communities. In such settings, minorities are not merely protected but are recognized as active agents of peace, justice and collective resilience, contributing to shaping a more just and cohesive future for society. Marginalized groups within minorities should equally be recognized for the important contributions they make. 13. The eighteenth session of the Forum provides an opportunity to examine existing best practices at the local, national, regional and international levels that demonstrate the active role of minority communities in advancing multilayered identities, promoting social justice and strengthening societal resilience. It will be focused on identifying concrete solutions, practical tools, inclusive policies and initiatives that facilitate the participation of minorities, ensuring that they can thrive, not in isolation, but as equal contributors to societies. 14. The Forum will follow up on and build upon the recommendations prepared at its earlier sessions, in particular its seventeenth session, on minority representation and self-representation in public spaces and discourses, 2 its sixteenth session, on the theme “Minorities and cohesive societies: equality, social inclusion and socioeconomic participation”,3 and its fourteenth session, on conflict prevention and the protection of the human rights of minorities.4 It will also follow up on the reports of Special Rapporteurs on minority issues, notably the report to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-fifth session on promoting diversity on minority issues to strengthen the universal dimension of human rights5 and the reports to the General Assembly on institutional designs promoting minorities’ effective participation towards diverse and inclusive societies6 and on effective promotion of 1 2 3 4 5 6 GE.25-14152 A/HRC/58/54. See A/HRC/58/69. See A/HRC/55/70. See A/HRC/49/81. A/HRC/55/51. A/79/169. 3