News and press releases

On 24 May, the OSCE Presence in Albania wrapped up a three-day training programme for 16 newly selected and vetted National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) investigators. The training programme aimed at boosting up the overall capacities of the newly-established NBI to conduct criminal investigations

WARSAW, 20 May 2022 – As the precarious security situation in Ukraine continues, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is stepping up its monitoring of the impact of the conflict on civilians and prisoners of war for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, following Russia’s military attack in Ukraine almost three months ago.

A team of law students from the Free University of Tbilisi has won the final of the moot court competition on the rights of people with disabilities hosted in Warsaw today by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The competition was the first of its kind organized by

The social re-use of confiscated assets was the focus of three training events held by the OSCE and the Center for Civil Society Promotion (CPCD) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The events were held on May 13 (Sarajevo), 16 (Tuzla) and 17 (Banja Luka). The 80 participants from civil society organizations had the opportunity to reflect on how they can contribute to the fight against organized crime and corruption and discussed which mechanisms civil society can effectively use to implement projects on social re-use.

On 18-19 May, the OSCE Programme Office (POiB) kicked-off a series of capacity-building activities, within its programmatic efforts to support peacebuilding activities in Kyrgyzstan. The workshop, which was held in Osh city, focused on strengthening Kyrgyzstan’s early warning and conflict prevention institutions, including within the framework of implementing the national civic integration concept “Kyrgyz Jarany” (“Kyrgyz Citizen”).

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded a series of 23 workshops for new municipal assembly members, elected for the first time in the October 2021 local elections. The trainings focused on assembly members’ role in representing all members of their constituencies and in enhancing the functioning of their respective municipal assemblies.

A four-day workshop with the Central Election Commission (CEC) on reviewing electoral rules concluded in Struga, North Macedonia, on April 21. The aim was to review and align these rules with the current Law on General Elections and other related laws in Kosovo, as recommended by international observer organizations and the OSCE Mission, based on lessons learnt from previous electoral processes. During the workshop the CEC, supported by the Mission’s Election Team, identified issues that require legal change and prepared a set of recommendations for future reference by the Assembly of Kosovo ad-hoc Committee on improving and strengthening the electoral process and its advisory group. The CEC looked into the most important rules related to the registration and operation of political parties, the certification of political entities and their code of conduct, the election observers, as well as the electoral rules relating to the voter list and out-of-Kosovo voting. They were also briefed on international standards and good practices on elections. “Clear electoral procedures help both the CEC in smooth delivery of elections but also the public in increasing their confidence in the overall election processes,” said Nathania Tabone, the Mission’s Senior Election Legal Adviser. The changes to the electoral rules agreed upon by the CEC during the workshop will be finalized by the CEC in the coming weeks. The final draft regulations should be subject to a public consultation with other key electoral stakeholders, such as specialized civil society organizations on elections and Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel. The Mission will continue to provide the CEC, the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel, and their Secretariats with technical advice and expertise in line with international standards and follow up on the implementation of recommendations made by international election observation missions.