. Dalits in South Asia Inclusive policies and projects Madame Chair of the UN Minority Forum and Madame Independent Expert on Minorities, I am not able to thank you as per the protocol due to reduction in our time!! Yesterday and today, when I heard experiences of several co-campaigners, struggling against odds, coming from several parts of the globe, narrating practices of discrimination, exclusion and violence, they seem very familiar to the experiences that me, my family and my people have lived through. There is one more thing that is common among us. We are all striving to reject the identities that society and culture have given us and branded us as 'natives' or 'aborigines' who need to be civilized; as migrants with no rights; as 'domestic workers' and 'bonded labourers' who are enslaved; as `illegal occupants' whose homes are demplished; or as 'manual scavengers' who are forced to clean shit; or as 'polluted people' - as 'untouchables'. However, we also know, deep down in our hearts that this is not true. The reason we are here is that we all know very clearly that these identities are `forced' identities not only to demean us and to demonise but also to devalue our descent, our colour, our skills, our faith and our resources. In most places they create enmity and hatred against us. We also know why this is being done - to underpay us, to grab our land and to pillage our resources. I am not going into Who are Dalits and their_ current forms exclusion due to paucity of time and also it has been expressed by other colleagues from Asia: Our mentor and one who inspired many around the world is Dr. B. R. Ambedkar who led many in this process of rejecting these forced identities and in renaming ourselves and reclaiming our rights and resources in order to reclaim the human identity that has been ripped away from us. He too made a journey - from being an 'untouchable' to a freedom fighter, not just from colonial domination but also from the stranglehold of the cultural hegemony of 'caste hierarchy'. Dr. Ambedkar acknowledged the criticality of economic inclusion as key to addressing the issues of Dalits. I will now go to the recommendations: STATE I. Building enabling environments If States are to build enabling environments for us, they must first publicly recognize the several problems we continue to face due to discrimination. This is the crucial first step. States and State actors can make visible this commitment through stricter implementation of existing anti-discrimination laws