I join Ambassador Sahlin in expressing our deep gratitude to our Turkish colleagues and generous hosts who have organized it in a very professional, hospitable and generous way. The seminar promises to be both thought- provoking and fruitful. This is the 13th seminar in the framework of the Challenges Project. The first phase of the project was brought to a close by the presentation of a Concluding Report by the Foreign Minister of Sweden, the late Anna Lindh, on behalf of all the Partners of the Project, to Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan at UN Headquarters, New York, on 25 April 2002. The report!made recommendations to troop contributing countries, informed Member States on current peace operations developments and contributed to the process of reform of UN peace operations. The report was a product of a series of seminars held during the previous five years in nine countries around the world and attended by a wide range of highly experienced civilian and military peacekeepers and academics from some 230 organizations and 50 countries. Subsequently, Partners agreed to a second phase of the Challenges Project, addressing some of the specific challenges identified in the Phase I Concluding Report, and to report again in 2005.