Strength in numbers: Platform for Co-operative Security

The OSCE addresses a wide range of challenges as part of its comprehensive approach to security. It is not the only international organization working in these areas, and the OSCE therefore seeks to pool resources and complement the efforts of other institutions.

As a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, the OSCE serves as a forum for co-operation with regional and sub-regional organizations and initiatives in the OSCE area.

Recognizing that the “risks and challenges we face today cannot be met by a single State or Organization,” the participating States in Istanbul in 1999 adopted the Platform for Co-operative Security to define the Organization’s work with international partners and acknowledge “the key integrating role that the OSCE can play”.

In the Istanbul Document, the Heads of State declared: “We offer the OSCE, when appropriate, as a flexible co-ordinating framework to foster co-operation, through which various organizations can reinforce each other drawing on their particular strengths.”

The OSCE co-operates closely with international organizations and bodies, including the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Council of Europe, NATO, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and others.

The Organization also maintains special relations with the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia – and the Asian Partners for Co-operation – Afghanistan, Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Thailand.

The dialogue on the future of European security under the OSCE-anchored Corfu Process has taken a similarly inclusive approach, welcoming the contributions of all relevant organizations and institutions dealing with security.