increase of hate crimes, which around the world mainly targets minorities. He noted that the only mechanism that links and provides a means of addressing conflict prevention and the protection of minorities is the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. He added that perhaps it is time for the United Nations to be more proactive and consider such a conflict prevention mechanism, since most conflicts today involve minorities. The Chair of the Forum indicated that discrimination and racism are not a problem of minorities and majorities, but of inequality in the access to and exercise of power. She explained that racism and discrimination are nothing more than a form of violence which can be exercised from power and, therefore, the challenge is how to democratize that power. She stressed the importance of modifying these paradigms, to speak not only of multiculturalism but of interculturalism. The Chair explained that intersectoral and gender perspectives are necessary to modify these situations of violence in different parts of the world, to improve the tools to deal with situations of violence, discrimination and racism. She added that the fundamental voice that is missing is that of the victims. Part of preventing conflicts has to do with including the victims in the way of building power within our peoples. The Chair noted that while she was a victim of the dictatorship in Argentina in the 1970s, she is a member of the Argentine state today because she understands the importance of designing public policies in order solve those conflicts that arise in the future. The Chair noted that designing state policies is fundamental to prevent conflicts and the different forms of violence (as was done in Argentina with the new National Plan against Discrimination); violence that manifests itself in discrimination, segregation, racism; violence that manifests itself in different ways. She added that we cannot think that without solidarity, without dialogue, without interculturalism we are going to prevent any conflict. The Chair concluded by stating that history teaches us that only if we are all together, we can transform the world for the better, because we have to improve everyone’s lives. 18