Third regional civil society conference in Dushanbe

Following the first two regional civil society workshops in Belgrade and Vienna, the third of four regional workshops within the framework of the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship is taking place in Dushanbe (Tajikistan). Under the title of "Implementing commitments to improve people's lives", around 30 active participants from central Asia (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan) and Mongolia discuss the following issues: the prevention of torture, the protection of human rights defenders and the freedom of association. Representatives from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan do not attend the workshop but will link up to the discussions via Skype on day two. The workshop is being organised by the OSCE office in Tajikistan and the local NGO Nota Bene. The director of the SDC office in Dushanbe, Peter Mikula, Ambassador Markus Müller (head of the OSCE office in Tajikistan) and the Tajik ombudsman, Zarif Alizoda, participate in the opening of the conference.

The four regional workshops will formulate recommendations for the OSCE participating States and institutions. These recommendations will be addressed to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and President of the Swiss Confederation, Mr Didier Burkhalter, at the end of the civil society conference, which will precede the Ministerial Council meeting at the beginning of December 2014 in Basel. Enhanced and systematic involvement of civil society in the work of the OSCE is one of the priorities of the Swiss Chairmanship in 2014.

Press release (OSCE)