Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

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Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights

• OSCEs Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Programme
• Short presentation at the 3rd meeting of National
  Campaign Committees of the All Different-All
  Equal European Youth Campaign for Diversity,
  Human Rights and Participation
• Budapest, 6th December 2006

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What is the OSCE?

• Largest regional security organization in the
  world
• 56 participating States from Europe, Central Asia
  and North America (including all 46 CoE member
  states!).
• Active in early warning, conflict prevention,
  crisis management and post-conflict
  rehabilitation, human rights and promotion of
  tolerance
• Institutions 18 Field Operations

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OSCE Field Operations

• Apart from main secretariat in Vienna and ODIHR
  in Warsaw, OSCE has Field Missions/ Offices in
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia,
  Kosovo, Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro,
  Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Albania, FYROM as
  well as in Central Asia

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What is the ODIHR?

• Principal institution of the OSCE responsible for
  the human dimension
• Assists the participating States to
• Promote principles of democracy
• Ensure full respect for Human Rights and
  Fundamental Freedoms
• Abide by the rule of law
• Build, strengthen and protect democratic
  institutions
• Combat violent manifestations of racism,
  xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance against
  Muslims and promote tolerance and respect

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Departments at the ODIHR

• Elections
• Democratisation
• Human Rights
• Tolerance and Non-Discrimination
• Roma and Sinti Contact Point

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Why a special focus on Tolerance and
Non-Discrimination (TND)?

• Increase of racist, xenophobic, homophobic and
  anti-Semitic hate motivated acts throughout the
  OSCE region
• Need for a specific approach to improve data
  collection, legislation, training and tolerance
  education

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Taskings to TND

• Collection point for information, statistics and
  legislation on hate crimes, racism, xenophobia,
  anti-Semitism and related intolerance
• Follow closely incidents
• Report findings to the Permanent Council and at
  the annual Human Dimenstion Implementation
  Meeting
• Collect and disseminate information on best
  practices
• Offer advice and support to participating States
  and civil society.

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TnD programme areas

• Monitoring, Reporting on and Following up Hate
  Crimes
• Legislative Assistance
• Civil Society/Capacity Building
• Education
• Law Enforcement Training

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Civil Society/Capacity Building

• Organising training and capacity building
  seminars for NGOs to support efforts to monitor
  and respond to hate crimes and hate motivated
  incidents
• Establishment of a network of NGOs to assist
  states and ODIHR with monitoring and reporting
• Organising NGO roundtables and expert meetings
  preceding and directly feeding in official OSCE
  meetings where pS meet.

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Education

• Education on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism
  Follow-up to ODIHR Report with expert workshops
  and technical assistance to States
• Development of an assessment report in 2006 on
  tolerance educational initiatives in the OSCE
  region
• In 2007 manual on best practices on media
  discourse/ promotion of tolerance towards Muslims

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OSCE and youth in fighting intolerance and
discrimination

• At yesterdays (!) Ministerial Council in
  Brussels the pS
• acknowledge the important contribution youth
  can make to the fight against intolerance and
  discrimination and encourages the continuation
  and further development of good practice
  activities such as human rights education at an
  early age throughout the OSCE region and to
  organize an OSCE youth event in 2007 taking into
  account the experience and expertise of other
  relevant international and regional organizations
  in this field in order to avoid duplication

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OSCE-CoE-NCC cooperation possible areas of
cooperation

• Spain has the OSCE chairmanship in 2007 Spanish
  NCC, CoE campaign secretariat to discuss possible
  cooperation with Spanish OSCE chairmanship
• In CoE member states where OSCE has office NCC,
  CoE campaign secretariat and OSCE Missions to
  identify cooperation in implementing CoEs
  campaign 2007 programme

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Discussion and Questions

• Is there/how is the cooperation between your NCC
  and OSCE?
• Do you see any area of cooperation? If so, which
  one(s)?
• Are there any projects you would like to
  highlight?
• Suggestions for co-operation?

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• Thank you for your attention!
• dennis.vanderveur_at_odihr.pl