OSCE Think Tank Network, in Basel, presents study on field operations

The OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions presented its recent study, The Future of OSCE Field Operations (Options), at a side event during the 2014 OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference in Basel on 3 December.

Based on input from 21 academic institutes, field operations, the Secretariat and delegations, the report highlights the diversity of existing field activities and their innovative character as exemplified by the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

The authors identify options for new types of work in the field, such as status-neutral field missions (for which the Mission in Kosovo provides a precedent), small sub-regional co-ordination offices on themes such as trafficking in human beings or field offices in states to the west of Vienna.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, who chaired the event, emphasized the increasing importance of non-governmental input to the OSCE dialogue, from academic networks and also from events such as the Parallel Civil Society Conference and the Security Days. The latter are a series of thematic discussions among experts and delegations, which the OSCE Secretariat has been organizing since 2012.