-
Our work
-
Fields of work
- Arms control
- Border management
- Combating trafficking in human beings
- Conflict prevention and resolution
- Countering terrorism
- Cyber/ICT Security
- Democratization
- Economic activities
- Education
- Elections
- Environmental activities
- Gender equality
- Good governance
- Human rights
- Media freedom and development
- Migration
- National minority issues
- Policing
- Reform and co-operation in the security sector
- Roma and Sinti
- Rule of law
- Tolerance and non-discrimination
- Youth
- Field operations
- Projects
-
Meetings and conferences
- Summit meetings
- Review Conferences
- Ministerial Council meetings
- Plenary meetings of the Permanent Council
- Plenary Meetings of the Forum for Security Co-operation
- Security Review Conferences
- Annual Implementation Assessment Meetings
- Economic and Environmental Forum
- Economic and Environmental Dimension Implementation Meetings
- Human rights meetings
- Media conferences
- Cyber/ICT security conferences
- Conference of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons
- Gender equality conferences
- Annual OSCE Mediterranean conferences
- Annual OSCE Asian conferences
- Partnerships
-
Fields of work
-
Countries
- All
-
Participating States
- Albania
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
- Belarus
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland – OSCE Chairpersonship 2025
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Holy See
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- The Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Türkiye
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Uzbekistan
- Asian Partners for Co-operation
- Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation
-
Structures and institutions
- Chairpersonship
-
Secretariat
- Secretary General
- Office of the Secretary General
- Conflict Prevention Centre
- Transnational Threats Department
- Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings
- Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities
- Gender Issues Programme
- Opportunities for Youth
- Department of Human Resources
- Department of Management and Finance
- Office of Internal Oversight
- Documentation Centre in Prague
- Institutions
-
Field operations
- Presence in Albania
- Centre in Ashgabat
- Programme Office in Astana
- Programme Office in Bishkek
- Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Programme Office in Dushanbe
- Mission in Kosovo
- Mission to Moldova
- Mission to Montenegro
- Mission to Serbia
- Mission to Skopje
- Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan
- Closed field activities
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Court of Conciliation and Arbitration
- Organizational structure
- About us
Press release
OSCE Chairman tells UN conference civil society can help thwart small arms trade
- Date:
- Place:
- UNITED NATIONS
- Source:
- OSCE Chairpersonship, Forum for Security Co-operation
- Fields of work:
- Reform and co-operation in the security sector, Arms control
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK, 26 June 2006 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, urged United Nations member states today to work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to bolster government efforts to stop the global spread of small arms.
Addressing the opening session of a two-week United Nations review conference on eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, Minister De Gucht also said the OSCE had set the trend in this area and he hoped its efforts so far and new initiatives would inspire other countries.
"The input of NGOs to some of the OSCE meetings has proven quite stimulating. Sometimes NGOs play a crucial role in advancing our understanding of the actual output and effect on the ground," the Chairman-in-Office told the conference, which was opened by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"I could thus wholeheartedly recommend to all of our nations to recognize the potential of working with civil society and NGOs in this field," Minister De Gucht said in his speech.
He said the OSCE stood ready to support the United Nations and other international organizations and to find ways of dividing tasks rather than duplicating them. For example,he noted that in a small arms and ammunitions project in Ukraine, the OSCE dealt with the ammunition while NATO was in charge of destroying the weapons.
The OSCE - which has 56 participating States in Eurasia and North America - has already published a special Handbook of Best Practices on Small Arms and Light Weapons with an annex on MANPADS: man-portable surface-to-air missiles that can be fired by an individual. Minister De Gucht said the Organization would welcome UN-level discussions on developing global guidelines and standards.
He said the OSCE was focusing on new initiatives that included tackling the problem of illicit air transport of small arms, dealing with unlicensed production and increasing the work of the OSCE's 18 field missions in collecting and tracing weapons.
"Further OSCE work on these issues may inspire in due time the United Nations," he added.