News and press releases

From 28 to 31 October, the 2024 Central Asian Youth Forum on Combating Human Trafficking convened young leaders, activists, and experts from across the region to address the gendered aspects of trafficking in human beings. The forum, held in the Issyk-Kul province of Kyrgyzstan, concluded with the development of a regional co-operation plan for 2025, along with a media campaign.

On 30 and 31 October, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department's Border Security and Management Unit in close co-operation with the Spanish National Police hosted an interactive training course on gendered aspects of transnational threats in Madrid. The event brought together 27 first- and second-line border security officers from Albania, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Spain and Tunisia.

Throughout October, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department has held a series of activities promoting cybersecurity good practices and general cyber hygiene as part of the OSCE’s contribution to the global Cybersecurity Awareness Month initiative.

Media literacy and methods of teaching media literacy skills were in focus of an OSCE-organized train-the-trainer course that took place on 29 and 30 October 2024. The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat organized the course to provide support in preparing a pool of national trainers on media literacy and

VIENNA, 29 October 2024 – The Economic and Environmental Dimension Implementation Meeting (EEDIM) began at the Vienna Hofburg today, providing a platform for reviewing the implementation of commitments in the field of water management.

TASHKENT, 28 October 2024 – Uzbekistan’s 27 October parliamentary elections took place amid ongoing reforms, including amendments to the Constitution, but the political environment remained constrained, not providing voters with a genuine choice, international observers said in a preliminary statement released today. Despite the ongoing reforms, fundamental freedoms remain disproportionally limited both by legislation and in practice, the statement says.

TBILISI, 27 October 2024 –While voters were offered a choice between 18 candidate lists and candidates could generally campaign freely, Georgia’s parliamentary elections were marred by entrenched polarization and concerns over recently adopted legislation and its impact on fundamental freedoms and civil society, as well as highly divisive campaign rhetoric and widespread reports of pressure on voters, international observers said in a statement today.