News and press releases

WASHINGTON D.C., 1 October 2024- The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission for the 5 November general elections in the United States, following an invitation from the national authorities.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are becoming ever more important to the election process, which brings both challenges and opportunities, experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in presenting a new edition of the Handbook for Observation of ICT in Elections at an event during the 2024 Warsaw Human Dimension Conference.

On 30 September, 38 students from the OSCE Academy in Bishkek participated in a guest lecture dedicated to preventing youth from engaging in criminal and corrupt activities. The event was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and was facilitated by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities.

Against the backdrop of persistent security challenges in South-Eastern Europe, a milestone in the fight against transnational threats and organized crime has been achieved. Today, the OSCE Mission to Skopje opened the new state-of-the-art Regional K9 Training and Certification Centre in Gjorche

On 26 September, the OSCE Secretariat Transnational Threats Department, in partnership with the UK Surrey Police Dog Training Center concluded a one-month training course for the National Canine (K9) Training Center under the Customs Committee of Uzbekistan. The course is aimed at strengthening the capacity of Uzbek K9 instructors to effectively use dogs in countering transnational threats through better detection of drugs, cash, and firearms at border check points.

WARSAW, 30 September 2024 – Strengthening our commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law through dialogue will allow us to overcome current challenges to the rights and freedoms at the heart of the principles on which the OSCE was founded, speakers and participants stressed as governments, international organizations, and civil society came together for a 10-day conference to take stock of the state of democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the 57 participating States of the OSCE region.

Between 16 and 28 September 2024, the OSCE Mission to BiH (Mission) has successfully concluded a series of pre-election debates, an essential component of the democratic process, aimed at ensuring citizens are well-informed about the candidates and their platforms. These debates took place in the