News and press releases

How to undertake financial investigation to effectively cut off terrorism financing channels was the focus of a three-day training course for experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which concluded on 18 November 2021.

An OSCE-supported seminar for international observers aimed to enhance participants’ knowledge of the rights and obligations of election observers took place in Nur-Sultan on 18 November 2021. The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan organized the event in co-operation with the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan (CEC) and supported by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe supported a review meeting on the implementation of Tajikistan’s National Action Plan in the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Vienna, 17 November 2021 – The OSCE and Uzbekistan agreed to strengthen their co-operation in countering corruption and increasing transparency in public administration today by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) and the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) of Uzbekistan.

The protection of human rights in penitentiary institutions and the exchange of information on prisoners' legal rights and freedoms were the focus of a two-day online seminar on 16 and 17 November 2021. The event was organized jointly by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR).

STRASBOURG, 16 November 2021- The largest annual gathering of National Anti-trafficking Co-ordinators and Rapporteurs took place this week in Strasbourg. Representatives from 60 countries across the OSCE region discussed how to address current human trafficking-related challenges and implement international commitments, policies and standards set forth by the OSCE and the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

STOCKHOLM/VIENNA, 16 November 2021- In a world shaped by ever-increasing divisions within nations and societies the need for tolerance could not be greater. The problems we face are clearly demonstrated in the most recent 2021 Hate Crime Report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in numerous instances of stereotyping, scapegoating, and stigmatization. It has fueled hate-motivated attacks both online and offline directed at persons in vulnerable situations, at persons belonging to minorities, including ethnic and religious groups and anti-Semitic attacks and hate-crimes against Muslims, Christians and members of other religions, Roma and Sinti, migrants and refugees, and people of Asian descent. They are not only a catastrophe for the victims and a breach of human rights, but they damage the social cohesion of our society at large. Trust and solidarity are lost, and democracy is threatened.