High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet High Commissioner on National Minorities, Lamberto Zannier Co-chairs Distinguished delegates and participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to open this twelfth session of the Forum on Minority Issues on “Education, Language and the Human Rights of Minorities”. Firstly, I would like to warmly welcome and congratulate the two chairpersons of the Forum, Ms. Anastasia Crickley and Ms. Astrid Thors, who have kindly accepted the important task of co-chairing this session of the Forum. They bring a wealth of experience in the field of minority issues: Ms. Crickley was a member and Chair of the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and a member of the Advisory Committee for the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the protection of National minorities, and she has an ongoing engagement on minority issues, including through civil society; and Ms. Thors has been the OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities, Chair of the Advisory Board on Human Rights of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, as well as Chair of the Swedish Assembly of Finland. I also welcome and thank Dr. Fernand de Varennes, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, who is mandated by the Human Rights Council to guide the work of this important Forum and prepare its annual sessions. I would like to welcome representatives of Member States, United Nations specialized agencies, representatives of human rights mechanisms and bodies, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations, academics and experts. Since its establishment in 2007, through the Human Rights Council resolution 6/15, the Forum has served as a unique annual meeting point, and a mechanism that promotes dialogue and cooperation among various stakeholders on issues pertaining to minorities. I am particularly pleased to see that this Forum has been successful in bringing together hundreds of minorities from all over the world who have travelled to Geneva to share their personal experiences and discuss challenges and good practices in the protection and promotion of minority rights. I would therefore like to extend a special welcome to all representatives from minority communities, who are here today and who will contribute constructively and substantively to the Forum’s discussions, as well as to thank them for their efforts to come here and be the voice of their communities.