OSCE Chairperson Dačić, Secretary General Zannier and senior officials to speak at OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum devoted to water governance in Prague

VIENNA, 10 September 2015 – Serbia’s Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ivica Dačić, will address the concluding meeting of the 23rd OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, focused on Water governance in the OSCE area – increasing security and stability through co-operation, on Monday, 14 September 2015 in Prague.

Over the course of the three-day Forum, senior government officials and experts from academia, NGOs, and international organizations will examine and discuss the level of implementation of OSCE commitments with the aim of deepening the OSCE’s engagement in the field of water governance.

Sessions will focus on water governance at different levels, as well as best practices, effective disaster risk reduction and strengthening participation of civil society and the private sector.

Jakub Kulhanek, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic, and Lamberto Zannier, Secretary General of the OSCE, will deliver opening remarks.

They will be followed by keynote speeches by Chairperson Dačić and Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Secretary General Zannier will also open an exhibition on “Helsinki+40” highlighting the history of the Helsinki process and the achievements of the OSCE and its predecessor, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), over the past 40 years.

The Economic and Environmental Forum meeting builds on the results of two preparatory meetings held in Vienna and Belgrade in January and May of this year. Its main objective is to stimulate deeper political dialogue, and generate commitments and recommendations for concrete activities to assist countries in dealing with economic and environmental aspects of security.

Follow the Forum via @OSCE Twitter, #EEFOSCE15.

Journalists are invited to attend the opening session from 9:30 to 11:30 and opening of the exhibition at 11:30, on Monday, 14 September 2015, at the Czernin Palace, Loretánské nam. 5, Prague.

Media wishing to attend are requested to send a request to the OSCE Communication and Media Relations Section at press@osce.org and/or Iveta Dzurikova, OSCE Prague Office, at Iveta.Dzurikova@osce.org.