Mr. President Madam Chairperson, High Commissioner, Excellencies, Distinguished Participants, It is a pleasure to welcome all of you to the inaugural United Nations Forum on Minority Issues. The aims and objectives of this annual Forum on Minority Issues are established in Human Rights Council resolution 6/15 which requires that under the guidance and preparation of the Independent Expert on Minority Issues, the Forum shall: 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. We have chosen to focus this first session of the Forum on an issue of utmost importance to minorities in all countries around the world: “Minorities and the right to education”. Education is a fundamental human right of every man, woman and child. And yet in all regions of the world minority children suffer disproportionately from unequal access to quality education. Failure to ensure equal opportunities and equal access to education robs people of their full human potential and their ability to contribute fully to their own communities and to the wider society. Education provides a gateway to the full enjoyment of a wide array of other rights, without which individuals and societies remain economically, socially and culturally impoverished. Lack of access to education perpetuates the cycle of poverty that is experienced most acutely by minority communities facing discrimination and exclusion. Conversely, education provides a vital key to sustainable poverty alleviation. Ensuring equal access to education is one of the most serious challenges for minorities and States alike. Equal access to education must be understood in the holistic sense of the rights to non-discrimination and equality. Minorities often face systematic discrimination which creates blockages to their full enjoyment of their rights, including their right to education. To fully protect the right to education for those who have been subjected to historical systematic discrimination, we must go beyond issues of physical or economic accessibility to focus on the