News and press releases

The Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, Ambassador György Szabó, received a certificate of appreciation for the promotion of human rights in Kazakhstan on 7 December 2017.

VIENNA, 8 December 2017 – Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), called on participating States today to leverage current momentum in addressing gender-based violence in all its forms, including sexual assault and harassment, ahead of International Human Rights Day on 10 December...

VIENNA, 8 December 2017 – The OSCE Austrian Chairmanship appealed for greater attention to the plight of civilians in Eastern Ukraine at a side event held on the margins of the 24th OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna today.

Effective methods, tools and skills for communicating about human rights issues in the digital age were the focus of a capacity-building event for human rights defenders from across the OSCE region, which took place in Budapest from 5 to 7 December 2017. The event was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in partnership with the Central European University.

Representatives of law-enforcement bodies and prison officials involved in providing psychological support to inmates discussed the main principles of their work and learned from international experts about relevant practices in the OSCE region at an OSCE-organized seminar that concluded in Ashgabat on 7 December 2017.

VIENNA, 6 December 2017 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz today received civil society’s recommendations to the OSCE executive structures and participating States, on the eve of the 24th OSCE Ministerial Council. The recommendations were adopted by more than 100 NGO representatives who met during the Parallel Civil Society Conference, which was organized by the Civic Solidarity Platform, a coalition of NGOs from across the OSCE region, in Vienna on 5 and 6 December...

SKOPJE, 6 December 2017 – Senior representatives of ministries in charge of education, culture, and information society and administration came together today in Skopje to discuss ways to further advance the rights of smaller communities. The discussion, organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje, in co-operation with the national Agency for the Community Rights Realization, aims at encouraging dialogue on equitable representation and on improving community rights in education, culture, public administration and media...