-2Excellencies, Distinguished representatives of Member States and civil society, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my pleasure to address the 16th session of the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues, which this year is dedicated to the subject that is of utmost priority to my mandate: Minorities and Cohesive Societies, including Equality, Social Inclusion, and Socio-economic Participation. First, I would like to congratulate the newly appointed Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Nicolas Levrat and wish him much success in implementing the important mandate entrusted to him by the United Nations community. My collaboration with the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues in the past has yielded tangible and meaningful results which are of particular significance to the theme of this year’s forum. For the past three years, my office has researched the importance of increasing the participation of national minorities in social and economic life as a means to build social cohesion. We benefitted greatly in our work from the excellent co-operation and support of the former Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Dr. Fernand de Varennes, as well as other experts and scholars who are well versed on national minority issues. As a result, last month on October 24th, my office presented its 10th set of guidelines and recommendations: the HCNM Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life. This document distils the knowledge and experience that my institution has gathered during the past 30 years on the subject of creating opportunities for national minorities and increasing their participation in public life. These recommendations aim to provide guidelines to the OSCE participating States and beyond on how to ensure that everyone in society is included in all aspects of social and economic life, so that no one is left behind. I hope that this document will aide you in devising inclusive policies: policies that take everyone’s interests into account, thereby ensuring that everyone participates fully in your respective societies. This will safeguard and strengthen social cohesion. I note that the document makes a reference to the recommendations issued by this Forum in several sessions throughout the past years. I want to emphasize that the Recommendations and Guidelines of my office are complementary to the provisions of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and other relevant international instruments.