News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Gender equality is a cornerstone of media freedom and democratic society, OSCE leaders say
Publishing date: 9 March 2021
VIENNA, 9 March 2021 – Ensuring both equal opportunities and equal safeguards for women and men is key to an independent and diverse media landscape, which is vital for open societies based on the principles at the heart of OSCE commitments to human rights and democracy, participants said at a two-day OSCE meeting that ended today.
Searches targeting human rights defenders in Belarus of utmost concern, OSCE human rights head says
Publishing date: 16 February 2021
WARSAW, 16 February 2021 – Following a wave of concerted police searches of human rights activists throughout Belarus today, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) voices its utmost concern and calls on the Belarusian authorities to respect the rights of those who seek to protect the rights of their fellow citizens and not to criminalize their legitimate human rights work.
Closer co-operation and greater creativity needed to combat contemporary anti-Semitism, OSCE officials say on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Publishing date: 27 January 2021
STOCKHOLM/WARSAW/WASHINGTON, 27 January 2021 – “Co-operation and an ongoing conversation about the changing face of anti-Semitism are crucial to ensure that we do not only commemorate the horrors of the Holocaust but also learn from it for the future,” leading OSCE officials said on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The brave people strengthening human rights in 2020 will lead us out of adversity, OSCE human rights office says
Publishing date: 10 December 2020
WARSAW, 10 December 2020 – On Human Rights Day, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) pays tribute to human rights defenders and many organizations across the OSCE region that have protected our rights throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and will have a key role to play if the global recovery is to put respect for human rights at its core.
Impunity for human rights abuses in Belarus must end, OSCE human rights office says
Publishing date: 13 November 2020
WARSAW, 13 November 2020 – As pervasive violations of OSCE commitments and international human rights obligations in Belarus continue, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) calls on the country’s authorities to end impunity of those responsible for human rights violations, up to and including deaths, and hold them to account...
Implementation of electoral recommendations in the Western Balkans discussed at OSCE/ODIHR regional conference
Publishing date: 10 November 2020
The follow-up to the recommendations of election observation missions in the Western Balkans topped the agenda of an online conference organized by the OSCE Office Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 10 November 2020. The conference focused on the extent and modalities of the
OSCE conference throws a spotlight on freedom of religion or belief in the digital age
Publishing date: 9 November 2020
VIENNA/WARSAW, 9 November 2020 – As freedom of religion or belief comes increasingly under pressure, the need to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies and at the same time minimize the dangers they pose is becoming ever more important. This topic is the focus of the OSCE’s final human rights conference of the year, beginning today...