News and press releases

The Jogorku Kenesh is the national parliament of Kyrgyzstan, it consists of 90 members of parliament, including 19 women MPs. Some 50 newly elected parliamentarians and staff of the administration of the Jogorku Kenesh of Kyrgyzstan took part in a series of orientation seminars during April and May, organized with the support of the United Nations Development Programme in Kyrgyzstan and the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek. The seminars aimed to enhance professional knowledge and skills of the newly elected MPs and the staff, thereby strengthening the institutional capacity of the Jogorku Kenesh.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo in co-operation with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) conducted on 10 and 11 May 2022 a two-day workshop on gender-responsive local governance and the role of women in municipal decision-making processes. The workshop targeted newly elected

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded a series of 23 workshops for new municipal assembly members, elected for the first time in the October 2021 local elections. The trainings focused on assembly members’ role in representing all members of their constituencies and in enhancing the functioning of their respective municipal assemblies.

A four-day workshop with the Central Election Commission (CEC) on reviewing electoral rules concluded in Struga, North Macedonia, on April 21. The aim was to review and align these rules with the current Law on General Elections and other related laws in Kosovo, as recommended by international observer organizations and the OSCE Mission, based on lessons learnt from previous electoral processes. During the workshop the CEC, supported by the Mission’s Election Team, identified issues that require legal change and prepared a set of recommendations for future reference by the Assembly of Kosovo ad-hoc Committee on improving and strengthening the electoral process and its advisory group. The CEC looked into the most important rules related to the registration and operation of political parties, the certification of political entities and their code of conduct, the election observers, as well as the electoral rules relating to the voter list and out-of-Kosovo voting. They were also briefed on international standards and good practices on elections. “Clear electoral procedures help both the CEC in smooth delivery of elections but also the public in increasing their confidence in the overall election processes,” said Nathania Tabone, the Mission’s Senior Election Legal Adviser. The changes to the electoral rules agreed upon by the CEC during the workshop will be finalized by the CEC in the coming weeks. The final draft regulations should be subject to a public consultation with other key electoral stakeholders, such as specialized civil society organizations on elections and Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel. The Mission will continue to provide the CEC, the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel, and their Secretariats with technical advice and expertise in line with international standards and follow up on the implementation of recommendations made by international election observation missions.

The effective investigation of money laundering crimes was at the center of a technical workshop held by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) with the support of the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia (ACC).

Twenty-two young officials working in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan’s presidential administrations, parliaments, government agencies, research and academic institutions are taking part in a five-day Young Policy Advisers Course (YPAC) from 14 to 18 March in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as part of its work to support the BiH institutions in the processing of war crimes cases, on 14 March 2022, provided IT equipment to the Central Bosnia Canton Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office.