From Lund to Ljubljana: promoting the participation of national minorities as a pathway to the integration of diverse societies

THE HAGUE / LUND, Sweden, 11 November 2019 – The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities is organizing a high-level conference to mark the 20th anniversary of The Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life on 14 November in Lund, Sweden.

Entitled “From Lund to Ljubljana: Promoting the Participation of National Minorities as a Pathway to the Integration of Diverse Societies”, the conference aims to explore the connections between participation and the integration of diverse societies.

Experts will explore these themes in four separate panels on political participation; cross-border and economic participation; the participation of minority women in public life, and the specific experience of Sweden.

The high-level speakers include: OSCE HCNM Lamberto Zannier; Annika Ben David, Ambassador for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, Foreign Ministry of Sweden; László Bukovszky, Plenipotentiary for National Minorities of Slovakia and Representative of the 2019 OSCE Chairmanship; Roberto Montella, Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly; Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director, OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights; and Morten Kjaerum, Director, Raoul Wallenberg Institute.

Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland, will deliver the keynote speech.

A detailed programme, along with background materials, is available here.

For journalists unable to attend in person, the Conference will be livestreamed here.

The Conference is supported by the Government of Sweden and co-hosted by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, which played an instrumental role in drafting the Lund Recommendations in 1999.

For accreditation, please contact michelle.pirotta@osce.org no later than 13 November 2019. The presentation of a valid ID is required for accreditation at the venue.