Quality history education is crucial to fostering social cohesion, conclude participants at OSCE Ministerial Council side event

TIRANA 3 December 2020 – The role of history education in fostering social cohesion in diverse societies was the focus of a side event held via video teleconferencing today on the margins of the 27th OSCE Ministerial Council in Tirana. The event was organized by the Albanian OSCE Chairmanship, the Permanent Mission of Spain to the OSCE, the OSCE Secretariat, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM).

Opening the event, Special Representative on Youth and Security Keisi Seferi highlighted that throughout 2020 in co-operation with other participating States, Albania, as OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office has provided a dedicated space to the voices of young people.

Petrika Jorgji, Deputy Head of the Albanian Task Force for the OSCE Chairmanship in his remarks underlined that prioritizing youth in OSCE work during 2020 is a reflection of “our recognition that historically, young people have played a decisive role in the transition to democracy in the OSCE region, including in Albania, and they remain a critically important agent of change in our societies”.

“Quality education, including history education, can help young women and men develop into citizens who are open-minded, aware of diversity, receptive to and critical of a full range of perspectives and interpretations,” said Tuula Yrjölä, Officer in Charge/Secretary General and Director of OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre, opening the event.

The joint event aimed at promoting dialogue on how history education can be designed to include multiple perspectives, including those of minority groups, and strengthen social cohesion.

Christophe Kamp, Director and Officer-in-Charge, office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities said: “Schools and universities can be the places where students develop critical thinking skills and learn how to engage in constructive dialogue. Schools and universities are also places where the diverse nature of each society can be analysed, understood and acknowledged, also through the prism of history.”

“The situation of Roma in the OSCE region shows clearly that prejudices from the past can lead to discrimination and exclusion in the present,” said Dan Doghi, Head of the Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues at ODIHR. “We need history teaching that puts reconciliation and dialogue at its core, to create societies based on trust and respect in all their diversity.” 

Joke van der Leeuw-Roord, Founder and Special Advisor of the European Association of History Educators, Dr. Robert Williams, Chair of Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and Deputy Director for International Affairs of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Heather Mann, member of the OSCE Perspectives 2030 Core Group of Experts (CGE) also addressed participants.

“It is vital to involve youth and youth groups in dialogues and debates about history, particularly across historic conflicts,” said Mann. “Youth groups have indicated that they would like to contribute to educational initiatives, rather than only be perceived as the recipients of education”.

Educational programmes are an integral part of the OSCE's comprehensive approach to security. The OSCE recognizes the need to raise awareness among young people about the importance of strengthening friendly relations developing tolerance and peaceful coexistence through its documents such as the 2003 OSCE Strategy to Address Threats to Security and Stability in the Twenty-First Century.

More information can be found at https://www.osce.org/youth.