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The Model OSCE is a simulation game that reproduces an OSCE Permanent Council meeting during a crisis situation.

Participants will each represent an OSCE participating State and work together to resolve the crisis.

The OSCE Mission to Moldova is looking for students who would like to participate in the Model OSCE 2016. The participants will receive essential negotiation skills training from an international OSCE expert.

Participation in the event is free of charge. Accommodation, transportation and meals will be provided by the OSCE Mission to Moldova for the duration of the event.

The application form can be downloaded here. It should be sent along with the applicant’s CV to Sergiu.Cotorobai@osce.org by 11 July 2016.

The first meeting of the ‘Follow Us’ Initiative for 2016, facilitated by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, took place in Skopje from 12 to 14 February 2016. The meeting brought together 18 prominent women working in politics, media, academia and civil society from Prishtinë/Priština and Belgrade, to take stock of achievements and plan future activities.

The participants reviewed the initiative’s successes such as the Dialogue Academy for young women from Belgrade and Prishtinë/Priština, and the promotion of the dialogue through the ‘Follow Us’ documentary. They recognized the importance of furthering the inclusion of more women in this process in order to expand the dialogue across different sectors and agreed on an action plan of concrete activities for 2016. Additionally they developed longer-term frameworks for action in key areas affecting women’s lives and equality.

In a joint statement, the members of ‘Follow Us’ Initiative said: “We agreed to implement joint activities in the following areas: economic empowerment of women, gender in education, prevention of gender-based violence, political participation and representation of women at all levels, engendering media and the portrayal of women in media and public life, and promotion of dialogue among youth.

We also reconfirm the importance of dialogue and co-operation and highlight the contribution of women to it by taking concrete steps to bring the two societies closer together.”

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The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, for the second consecutive year, will organize the Dialogue Academy for Young Women as part of the Follow Us initiative. The initiative gathers prominent women from politics, academia, media and civil society from Belgrade and Prishtinë/Priština and supports the process of dialogue, reconciliation and confidence-building between the two societies.

The purpose of the Academy is to empower young women by educating them on issues relating to women’s role in promoting dialogue, reconciliation, and co-operation. The 2016 edition of the programme builds upon last year’s experience and success whereby 22 young women from Prishtinë/Priština and Belgrade had the opportunity to participate in a series of instructive lectures and team-building exercises and be part of a wide network of activists and experts in the fields of women empowerment, women in politics, dialogue and reconciliation.

This year, 24 female students of social science and young professionals in the areas of media, politics, and civil society will be attending the Academy programme from 30 September to 9 October 2016, organized at the Peace Castle Schlaining, Austria. 

Graduates from the Academy will become Dialogue alumni and are expected to create their own alumni network which will enable them to design and implement joint projects, following the example of the 2015 OSCE Dialogue Academy alumni.

For more information on the application please click here.

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The final public consultations on the content of the new National Action Plan (NAP) for the implementation of the UN SCR 1325 – Women, Peace and Security (2016-2020) was held on 10 June 2016 in Belgrade at the premises of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia, jointly with the Serbian Government's Office for Co-operation with Civil Society, and the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, supported the Working Group in the drafting process of the NAP by organizing public consultations across Serbia.

The consultations were held in the towns of Nis, Vranje, Novi Pazar, Krusevac, Novi Sad and Belgrade. During the meetings, participants welcomed that the new NAP raises the profile of local activities and that it places an emphasis on improved co-ordinated action, both at the local and national levels.

The main objective of the new NAP is to improve the safety and security of women through the implementation of UN SCR 1325 in the areas of prevention, participation, relief and recovery, and to increase involvement of women at the local level.

Participants included some 250 high-ranking officials of the Serbian Government and representatives of civil society organizations, and the media.

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VIENNA, 28 June 2016 – High-level representatives of OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation and partnering organizations are exploring how to revive co-operative security against the backdrop of current challenges to European security, during the three-day 2016 Annual Security Review Conference (ASRC), which started today in Vienna.

The Conference brings together about 400 participants and was opened by the Special Representative of the Federal Government of Germany for the OSCE Chairmanship Gernot Erler who stressed that the discussion should provide an “honest, scrupulously constructive dialogue.” He welcomed the agreement by all OSCE participating States to use the platform of the ASRC to discuss the crises and conflicts in the OSCE area in a frank manner.

“Peace in Europe is broken and the fundamental values and principles of the European security order have been and are being called into question. This situation is unacceptable,” he said. “At the same time we must adhere to a tone characterized by mutual confidence.”

Looking at the conflict in and around Ukraine in particular, Erler emphasized that the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) must not be threatened nor its work obstructed. “The SMM must not be made blind,” said Erler as he criticized the recent attacks on SMM unarmed aerial vehicles and cameras.

Erler welcomed the keynote speaker José Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of Timor-Leste:  “Mr. Ramos-Horta fought for the freedom of his country and his people with perseverance and by peaceful means.  Today, he can be a source of inspiration for us in the OSCE,” Erler said.  

In his speech, Ramos-Horta said that Europe is at a crossroads, but the region had faced greater challenges in the past. “You can do it again, and do better still,” he said, referring to the rebuilding of Europe after the Second Word War. With a view to many unresolved conflicts Ramos-Horta urged: “The preferred option should always be prevention of conflicts, dialogue and mediation to settle disputes. When these are actively, creatively and patiently exercised in a timely fashion more often than not they produce better results than the use of force.”

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said that despite divergent interpretations of the origins of the current crisis in European security “there is also a growing realization that we cannot simply give up on seeking a convergence of interests where this appears possible.”

Highlighting the agreement reached earlier this year by participating States on a second set of OSCE confidence-building measures on cybersecurity, Zannier said that the OSCE as the most inclusive platform for dialogue in the northern hemisphere should play a significant role in revitalising the discussion on strengthening arms control. “Establishing a neutral mechanism for military fact-finding, inspections under an OSCE flag or even a centralized and institutionalized OSCE verification/inspection mechanism are some of the suggestions that we may want to consider,” he said.

Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva conveyed a message to the ASRC participants by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, re-affirming the benefits of enhancing “the invaluable co-operation between the OSCE and the United Nations.”

Møller welcomed the call by Germany’s 2016 OSCE Chairmanship for ‘renewing dialogue, rebuilding trust and restoring security.’ “As we work to pursue these goals, we need to devise joint strategies according to our respective strengths,” he said.

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The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, for the second consecutive year, will organize the Dialogue Academy for Young Women as part of the Follow Us initiative. The initiative gathers prominent women from politics, academia, media and civil society from Belgrade and Prishtinë/Priština and supports the process of dialogue, reconciliation and confidence-building between the two societies.

The purpose of the Academy is to empower young women by educating them on issues relating to women’s role in promoting dialogue, reconciliation, and co-operation. The 2016 edition of the programme builds upon last year’s experience and success whereby 22 young women from Prishtinë/Priština and Belgrade had the opportunity to participate in a series of instructive lectures and team-building exercises and be part of a wide network of activists and experts in the fields of women empowerment, women in politics, dialogue and reconciliation.

This year, 24 female students of social science and young professionals in the areas of media, politics, and civil society will be attending the Academy programme from 30 September to 9 October 2016, organized at the Peace Castle Schlaining, Austria. 

Graduates from the Academy will become Dialogue alumni and are expected to create their own alumni network which will enable them to design and implement joint projects, following the example of the 2015 OSCE Dialogue Academy alumni.

For more information on the application please click here.

Related Stories

• Mini-Olympic Games 2016
• OSCE Mission-organized Junior Basketball Tournament
• OSCE Mission trains legal professionals from northern Kosovo on fair trial rights

More than 400 people with disabilities from different Kosovo communities, their family members, local and international institutions, Kosovo Police, and volunteers from the OSCE, KFOR, EULEX, and diplomatic representations participated in the two-day Mini-Olympic Games 2016, supported by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and organized by the Kosovo Paralympics Committee.

These twelfth Mini-Olympic Games were held on 25-26 June 2016 at the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety in Vushtrri/Vučitrn. The Mini-Olympic Games were organized to raise awareness on inclusion and equality, provide opportunity to people with disabilities to engage in sport activities and show their talents, and also to continue building trust between the police and people with disabilities. The OSCE Mission initiated this yearly event and has supported it throughout the years. 

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Resolution 11 - (Rev. Hammamet, 2016) - Collaboration with the Postal Operations Council of the Universal Postal Union in the study of services concerning both the postal and the telecommunication sectors

Resolution 32 - (Rev. Hammamet, 2016) - Strengthening electronic working methods for the work of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector

Resolution 49 - (Rev. Hammamet, 2016) - ENUM

Resolution 52 - (Rev. Hammamet, 2016) - Countering and combating spam

Resolution 68 - (Rev. Hammamet, 2016) - Evolving role of industry in the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector

Resolution 69 - (Rev. Hammamet, 2016) - Non-discriminatory access and use of Internet resources

Resolution 77 - (Rev. Hammamet, 2016) - Enhancing the standardization work in the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector for software-defined networking

Resolution 80 - (Rev. Hammamet, 2016) - Acknowledging the active involvement of the membership in the development of ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector deliverables

Resolution 83 - (Hammamet, 2016) - Evaluation of the implementation of resolutions of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly

Resolution 85 - (Hammamet, 2016) - Strengthening and diversifying the resources of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector