Partnerships for security and co-operation
FSC was enriched by presentations from UN, EU, Wassenaar and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) representatives, who in particu-lar contributed to discussions related to small arms and light weapons (SALW) and non-proliferation.
In Vienna in June, the OSCE Secretary General hosted the annual High-Level Tri-partite Meeting between the UN, the CoE and the OSCE on the theme of “Gender and Comprehensive Security: Lessons learned and possibilities for enhanced co-operation”.
Discussions focused on preventing and re-solving conflicts, in particular through the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, which marked its tenth anniversary in 2010, and on combat-ing violence against women, includcombat-ing the girl-child, before, during and after armed conflicts. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Or-ganization for Migration (IOM), NATO and CSTO also participated in the meeting.
In December, the OSCE Secretary General held a workshop in Vienna with regional organizations on the theme of “Preventive and Quiet Diplomacy, Dialogue Facilitation and Mediation” as a follow-up to the UN Secretary-General’s high-level retreat with heads of regional organizations in New York
in January. The workshop was the first event of its kind and brought together senior rep-resentatives from the UN and a number of regional organizations, including the EU, the CoE, NATO, the African Union (AU), ARF, the Caribbean Community (CARI-COM), CSTO, CICA, LAS, OAS and Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
Together with the UN and the EU, the OSCE co-chaired six rounds of the Geneva Discussions, as foreseen in the 12 August 2008 six-point agreement. It also co-facil-itated, together with the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM), three meetings of the Second Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism. The importance of this co-operation was illustrated by repeated joint appearances of the three Co-Chairs of the Geneva Discussions at the OSCE Permanent Council and the EU Political and Security Committee.
The OSCE, the UN and the EU also co-ordinated closely, including by issuing joint statements by their Special Representatives, in assisting Kyrgyzstan, upon its request, in resolving the political crisis, preventing the spillover of tensions in the region, and in promoting post-conflict rehabilitation.
The OSCE contributed to the Paris Pact Initiative through its engagement with Af-ghanistan, complementing the efforts of the
UN, NATO and the EU, including in the areas of border security and management, policing and election support.
In carrying out activities under their re-spective mandates, thematic units and de-partments in the Secretariat also maintained active contact and co-operation with rele-vant structures in partner organizations and with specialized agencies and institutions.
For example, throughout the year ATU co-operated with more than 20 UN insti-tutions, international, regional and sub-regional organizations and specialized agen-cies to support and promote their counter-terrorism related activities and share experi-ences and best practices.
SPMU continued to leverage efforts for co-ordination and co-operation with rel-evant international and regional organiza-tions, focusing in particular on illicit drugs and precursor chemicals interdiction and training of Afghan police. Other activities, principally related to police development, have involved co-operation with institu-tions and organizainstitu-tions such as the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO), the CoE, the European Police College (CEPOL), the International Network to Promote the Rule of Law (INPROL), the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces Centre (DCAF) and a number of NGOs.
a bird’s eye view of the United Nations Security Council during a briefing by Kanat Saudabayev, Minister for Foreign affairs of the republic of Kazakhstan and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, in New York on 5 February 2010. (UN Photo/Mark Garten)
The Gender Section continued to co-operate with other organizations by sharing OSCE experience related to gender equality, violence against women and the implemen-tation of UNSCR 1325.
The Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Traffick-ing in Human BeTraffick-ings (CTHB) promoted multi-stakeholder partnerships through the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons. This year saw a renewed engagement in bilateral and multilateral dialogue amongst various partners to consolidate existing partner-ships and expand membership. Upon the initiative of the Special Representative, the Alliance Expert Co-ordination Team is-sued a “Joint Statement on Child Protection, Especially among Migrant, Undocumented, Unaccompanied, Separated and Asylum Seeking Children, to enhance Prevention of Child Trafficking”, which was presented at the OSCE Review Conference in Warsaw in October.
Through its Borders Team, the Opera-tions Service of the Conflict Prevention Centre (CPC) engaged with international and regional organizations dealing with issues affecting border security and manage-ment. Key partners included the UN, the EU (particularly its BOMCA Programme in Central Asia, EUBAM and Frontex), NATO, IOM, the International Civil Aviation ganization (ICAO), the World Customs Or-ganization (WCO), Interpol, the CSTO, the Regional Co-operation Council (RCC), the
Southeast European Co-operation Initiative (SECI), the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Re-gional Initiative (MARRI), the International Anti-Corruption Academy and DCAF.
Operations Service also regularly partici-pated in the International Stabilization and Peacebuilding Initiative, which included the AU, the CoE, the UN and the World Bank.
Over the year, the Office of the Co-ordina-tor of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) intensified its co-operation in the area of fighting corruption with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Eu-rope and Central Asia, the CoE and the EC’s Eastern Partnership, Platform I – Panel on Fight Against Corruption.
The OCEEA continued to be actively engaged in the Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC), in co-operation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Regional Environmental Cen-tre for Central and Eastern Europe, as well as NATO.
On the ground, OSCE field operations continued to share information and, as necessary, co-ordinate in implementing projects and other practical activities with other locally represented organizations, in a pragmatic way and in accordance with their individual mandates. The CPC organized
special sessions on assessing co-operation with other organizations and institutions present alongside the OSCE Regional Heads of Mission meetings in Sarajevo in June, in Ashgabat in May and in Baku in September.
In addition, a representative of the EC deliv-ered a briefing on the EU’s Eastern Partner-ship Initiative at the Regional Heads of Mis-sion meeting in Kiev in July.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institu-tions and Human Rights (ODIHR) regularly co-operated with the Venice Commission of the CoE on legal reviews and maintained strong partnerships with the OSCE Parlia-mentary Assembly and the ParliaParlia-mentary assemblies of the CoE and NATO, as well as the European Parliament on election observation.
The OSCE High Commissioner on Na-tional Minorities (HCNM) co-operated with international organizations in order to broaden channels of influence, avoid overlap and increase the effectiveness of the HCNM’s work. The HCNM developed close links with the EC, in particular with the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and the Directorate-General for Enlargement;
the CoE, especially the CoE Advisory Com-mittee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Venice Commission; and with the UN Secretariat and specialized UN bodies, such as the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR), UNHCR and UNDP.
The Representative on Freedom of the Eric Svanidze, a
consultant to the Council of Europe on ill-treatment and torture, introduces a session on rule of law at the OSCE’s review Conference in Warsaw on 5 October 2010. remarks at a session on human trafficking at the OSCE review Conference in Warsaw on 8 October 2010.
(OSCE/Curtis Budden)
Partnerships for security and co-operation Media worked with freedom of expression
rapporteurs of the UN, the OAS and the Af-rican Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights to publish a document setting forth the ten key challenges facing freedom of expression in the next decade.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly regularly co-operated with the European Parliament, the NATO Parliamentary As-sembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE (PACE), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the CIS Parliamentary Assembly and other international parliamentary organiza-tions, particularly in the field of election observation.
■ United Nations
In his address at the opening session of the Astana Summit, the UN Secretary-General spoke of the “core principles and common values” on which both organizations were founded and the benefit of deepening co-op-eration in order “to expand peace, advance human rights, generate sustainable develop-ment, and build a safer world”. His state-ment provided an apt summary of a year characterized by an exceptionally intense and close co-operation between the UN and the OSCE.
Providing a coherent response to the situation in Kyrgyzstan, as well as continu-ing close and co-ordinated engagement on Georgia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, were the highlights of OSCE-UN interaction during the year. Other priority areas for co-operation included advancing fundamental freedoms and human rights in the OSCE area; disarmament and non-proliferation, including by supporting the implementation of UNSCR 1540; addressing environmental challenges and fostering sustainable devel-opment, with a special focus on efficient water and energy management; and develop-ing co-ordinated approaches to combatdevelop-ing transnational threats to security, in par-ticular in the areas of trafficking in human beings and narcotics, and the fight against terrorism.
Inter-institutional contacts also acquired new dynamism and helped to advance the co-operation agenda throughout the year.
On 5 February, the OSCE Chairperson briefed the UN Security Council on the pri-orities of the 2010 OSCE Chairmanship. He stressed the important role played by region-al intergovernmentregion-al organizations such as the OSCE, with their unique tools, resources and understanding of the situation on the ground, in assisting the Security Council to more effectively address potential security
threats and respond to them. This point was also highlighted at the thematic debate of the UN Security Council, held in January, on the theme of “Advancing co-operation of the UN with regional and sub-regional organizations in the maintenance of global peace and security”. The OSCE Chairperson focused again on the OSCE’s wide-ranging role as a key regional partner of the UN during his remarks at the inaugural ses-sion of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September.
In New York in January, the OSCE Sec-retary General attended the UN SecSec-retary- Secretary-General’s high-level retreat on “Co-opera-tion in Times of Crisis” for heads of regional and other intergovernmental organizations.
On that occasion, he met bilaterally with the UN Secretary-General to discuss issues of mutual interest. Other bilateral meetings between the two Secretaries General took place on the margins of the UN Secretary-General’s address to the OSCE Permanent Council in April and during the Astana Summit in December. At the end of August, the OSCE Secretary General met in New York with high-ranking UN representatives from the Departments for Political Affairs (DPA) and DPKO to discuss co-operation on key regional issues.
In September, the OSCE Secretary General met bilaterally with the newly appointed executive director of UNODC, and in De-cember he hosted the annual OSCE-UNODC co-ordination meeting in Vienna. Senior experts on both sides reviewed co-operation between the two organizations in the areas of combating trafficking in human beings;
fighting illicit drugs, terrorism and transna-tional organized crime; and corruption and money laundering.
The annual OSCE-UN staff-level meeting was held in May in New York and focused on co-operation in the Western Balkans, the South Caucasus, Moldova, Central Asia and Afghanistan, as well as on thematic issues including mediation and conflict prevention and disarmament and non-proliferation. On the margins of the meeting, OSCE represen-tatives held a number of bilateral meetings with senior UN officials.
In September, the OSCE Head on Anti-Terrorism Issues addressed the 117th Ses-sion of the UNGA, which reviewed the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and briefed the UNGA on the OSCE’s contributions to global efforts against terrorism.
SPMU maintained effective co-ordina-tion with the UNODC in preparing and
implementing activities related to combating organized crime and illicit drugs. Regular co-ordination meetings were held at the senior and technical level in Vienna, con-tinuing through the OSCE field offices. A number of joint OSCE-UNODC workshops, seminars, training programmes and confer-ences were organized in the course of the year.
The Operations Service of the CPC con-tinued to enhance its co-operation with the UN DPA Mediation Support Unit. The first joint training between the OSCE and the UN took place at the Folke Bernadotte Academy’s (FBA) training facility in Sandö, Sweden, in April.
Through its participation in the Expert Reference Group, the FSC Support Unit of the CPC took on an active role in the process of developing International Small Arms Control Standards initiated by the UN Co-ordinating Action on Small Arms Mecha-nism. This new initiative aimed to create universal standards in designing, planning and implementing small arms control initia-tives to be used equally by practitioners and policy-makers.
The FSC Support Unit also continued the implementation of joint projects with UNDP. This year witnessed the success-ful conclusion of the first phase of the joint SALW project in Belarus, where a total of five SALW storage sites were updated in line with OSCE best practices on the manage-ment and security of SALW stockpiles. In addition, special SALW inventory software was developed for use in Belarus and other OSCE participating States. In Montenegro, the first phase of two joint projects was finalized, resulting in the destruction of 480 tonnes of unstable ammunition and the updating of an ammunition storage site in Tarash.
The OCEEA continued its co-operation with the UNECE on transport and cross-border facilitation issues. A number of joint or back-to-back regional events were orga-nized, related, inter alia, to the Euro-Asian Transport Links and the UN Trans-Europe-an Motorway (TEM) Trans-Europe-and TrTrans-Europe-ans-EuropeTrans-Europe-an Railway (TER) projects. Co-operation also focused on finalizing the joint OSCE/UN-ECE Handbook of Best Practices at Border Crossings.
The OCEEA further expanded its co-operation with the UNECE Aarhus Con-vention Secretariat within the framework of the OSCE Aarhus Centres Initiative and strengthened its collaboration with the UN-ECE Helsinki Convention and the UNUN-ECE
Espoo Convention through projects in the field of transboundary water management and environmental impact assessment, respectively. In areas related to energy se-curity, OCEEA partnered with the UNECE through its Committee on Sustainable En-ergy, Working Parties and Expert Groups.
The OCEEA continued its co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agen-cy (IAEA) in the framework of mitigating radioactive problems in Central Asia.
The Office of the Representative on Free-dom of the Media worked with UN Educa-tional, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to organize a roundtable on the topic of self-regulation for media representa-tives from seven South-Eastern European countries and Turkey, as well as on a project to develop a Russian version of the UNESCO Model Curricula for Journalism Education.
■ European Union
The EU and the OSCE continued building on their close co-operation throughout the year, which was marked by the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. In his address to the OSCE Summit, President of the Euro-pean Council Herman Van Rompuy high-lighted that “for the EU the [OSCE-EU] joint long-term vision is clear: a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community where
the use of force has become unthinkable and where common interests prevail.” He outlined four key priorities for the OSCE, namely dealing with regional conflicts (emerging and old), strengthening and modernizing the conventional arms control regime in Europe, ensuring the strengthen-ing of the protection of human rights and increasing co-operation in the face of trans-national threats.
The Chairperson participated in the regular OSCE-EU Ministerial Meeting held in January in Brussels. Meetings at the ambassadorial level took place in June and December, addressing a number of topical issues of common interest, including the priorities of the OSCE Chairmanship, the Astana Summit and its follow-up, the Corfu Process, protracted conflicts, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan.
The OSCE Secretary General addressed the EU Political and Security Committee in April and November, under the respec-tive Spanish and Belgium presidencies, and held a number of bilateral meetings with high-ranking EU representatives on the margins, addressing issues such as the situ-ation in Kyrgyzstan, protracted conflicts, Georgia, Afghanistan, the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and preparations for the Astana Summit. The Secretary General also
met bilaterally with the EU President on the margins of the OSCE Summit in Astana.
The year also featured appearances by senior EU representatives before the OSCE Permanent Council, including the Spanish Foreign Minister on behalf of the EU Presi-dency, the Special Representative of the EU for the South Caucasus and the EU Special Representative for the Republic of Moldova.
In July, an OSCE-EU brainstorming ses-sion at the staff level took place in order to explore ways for enhanced co-operation ahead of the Astana Summit.
As a permanent participant in the EU’s Eastern Partnership Initiative’s (EaP) Plat-form I on Democracy, Good Governance and Stability, the OSCE took part in the third and fourth meetings of the Platform in October and April, raising awareness of OSCE activities in these areas.
The Operations Service of the CPC en-hanced its interaction with the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU in the area of mediation support. In October, representatives of the Operations Service’s Planning and Analysis Team participated in an EU workshop on best practices in media-tion, which was also attended by several EU Special Representatives.
The OCEEA initiated a new partnership with the European Environmental Agency Sergei a. Ordzhonikidze,
Under-Secretary-General, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, speaks at a meeting of the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the United Nations on gender and security, in Vienna on 14 June 2010. (OSCE/
Susanna Lööf)
Partnerships for security and co-operation within the framework of a project aimed
at developing scenarios for different OSCE regions to quantify the security implica-tions of climate change, as well as within the framework of a project on the secu-rity implications of climate change in the OSCE region.
■ Council of Europe
■ Council of Europe