The OSCE works to prevent conflicts from arising and to facilitate lasting comprehensive political settlements for existing conflicts. It also helps with the process of rehabilitation in post-conflict areas. It co-operates with representatives of the United Nations and other international organizations operating in areas of conflict.

Following the April 2010 crisis and subsequent violence in June 2010 in Kyrgyzstan, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office sent his Special Envoy, Zhanybek Karibzhanov, to facilitate dialogue and co-ordinate efforts with other international organizations.

The OSCE is involved in mediation efforts in several unresolved conflicts:

The conflict in and around Nagorno-Karabakh  - through the Minsk Group (co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation and the United States) and the Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office on the Conflict Dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Transdniestria - through the "5+2" talks, which includes the sides, the Republic of Moldova and Transdniestria, the mediators - the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the OSCE - and the United States and the European Union as observers.

Post-2008 conflict in Georgia - the OSCE, together with the UN and EU, co-chairs the international Geneva Discussions in the wake of the conflict in Georgia. It also, with EUMM, co-facilitates the meetings of the Dvani/Ergneti Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) dealing with matters that affect the daily life of populations on the ground.