OSCE trains 90 Russian election observers

WARSAW, 26 October 2005 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) will today train around 90 Russian officials for participation in future election observation missions.

The course, which will take place at the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow, is within the framework of a memorandum of understanding between the OSCE Secretariat and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"I welcome the interest that the Russian authorities are showing in participating in our election observation missions. Hopefully this will serve to increase the number of Russian observers on our future missions, as well as raising understanding of our observation methodology", said Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director of the ODIHR.

OSCE participating States are responsible for preparing their nationals for seconded assignments in OSCE Field Operations. The OSCE Training Co-ordinator provides active support to these activities in the framework of the OSCE Training Strategy.

For this particular event, three experts from the ODIHR will join training experts from the OSCE Secretariat to offer an overview of the basis for election observation, the long-term work of election experts in the field, observation of voting and counting, preparation of reports and follow-up activities.

The ODIHR election observation methodology was first developed nearly a decade ago and has served as a model for other international organizations.

OSCE/ODIHR encourages such national training efforts for intended election observers, and has participated in a number of them in various participating States.

This training course complements regular country-specific briefings which are held for all OSCE/ODIHR short-term observers once deployed in the field.

All 55 OSCE participating States are invited to second observers to each OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, and the Office seeks to ensure that as many states as possible are represented in its observation missions. It is expected that observers that undergo such training programs will participate in future OSCE/ODIHR election observation missions.