OSCE improving capability to react to crisis

VIENNA, 27 November 2000 - The OSCE is improving its capability to identify and react to real and potential crisis situations, OSCE Secretary General Jan Kubis told delegates attending the Eighth OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna today.

"I am pleased to report significant progress in creating the capacities and capabilities OSCE requires to meet the complex security challenges of Europe," Mr. Kubis said.

He explained that the OSCE is establishing Rapid Expert Assistance and Co-operation Teams (REACT) in order to be able to put qualified experts into the field very quickly. It will provide OSCE participating States with a capacity to mobilize personnel very quickly to meet a variety of contingencies, such as the need to build up a large new mission or provide a surge of personnel into an existing field activity area.

He noted professional standards have been established for 12 OSCE fields of expertise, including human rights, media development, police, as well as administrative and support roles. They provide a clear basis for participating States to recruit qualified professionals for OSCE field activities.

Generic training standards have been produced, which in many aspects mirror those of the United Nations. They can be used by participating States to train personnel in the skills they will need to begin to work immediately upon reaching the field, no matter if the personnel are deployed to OSCE, UN or other organizations.

"This of course increases our interoperability on the ground," the Secretary General said.

He explained that in 1999 in Istanbul, Heads of State or Government mandated the establishment of an Operation Centre to identify potential crisis areas, and plan and co-ordinate the deployment of OSCE field operations. He said the OSCE Secretariat plans to keep limited stocks of the essential equipment, such as vehicles, communication equipment and computers, however participating States may consider developing national modules of equipment which could be dedicated to a new mission.

"The OSCE is quite ready to make its information, networks, lessons learned and operational concepts and capacities increasingly available to partner organizations - both in headquarters and on the ground," Mr. Kubis said.

"The Charter for European Security set an ambitious agenda for the OSCE, and in the past year we have moved it forward with the aim of delivering the promised capacity," he said.

The OSCE Ministerial Council, which is convened on years when there is no OSCE Summit, is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE. At the Ministerial Council, Foreign Ministers review and assess the activities of the Organization and set new political goals for the future. The Ministers also take decisions on concrete measures to increase the operational capacities of the OSCE.