REVIEW CONFERENCE AHEAD OF OSCE SUMMIT TO BEGIN IN WARSAW WITH FOCUS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
The first segment of a three-part Review Conference ahead of the OSCE Summit in Astana on 1-2 December will begin on the 30th of September in Warsaw with a focus on human rights and democracy. In the first segment of the Review Conference Lithuanian delegation will be lead by Alfonsas Eidintas, ambassador for OSCE Human dimension, Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the framework of the Human dimension segment of the Review Conference Lithuania will host a Side event „Incoming Chairmanship‘s briefing“, which will take place on 4th of October at the Embassy of Lithuania in Poland.The Warsaw part of the Review conference, which takes place from 30 September to 8 October, will look at the progress the 56 participating States have made in implementing their OSCE commitments regarding human rights and democracy, including in areas such as freedom of peaceful assembly and other fundamental freedoms, democratic elections, the rule of law, and tolerance and non-discrimination.
It will also serve to identify ways to address cases of non-compliance. The conference results will contribute to discussions at the Summit later this year. Special sessions are scheduled to discuss freedom of the media, intolerance against migrants and trafficking in children.
With several hundred participants from governments, civil society and international organizations, the Warsaw part of the Review Conference will be the largest regional human rights event to take place in Europe this year. Civil society groups have full access to working sessions and can discuss challenges with government representatives on an equal footing.
On the margins of the meeting, close to 50 side events organized by governments, nongovernmental organizations and OSCE institutions and field operations will highlight specific topics of concern and country situations. Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairperson-in Office, Konstantin Zhigalov, will open the Review Conference. Poland's Under-Secretary of State, Grazyna Bernatowicz, the OSCE Secretary General, Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, and the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Petros Efthymiou, will also speak at the opening plenary session, which focuses on all three OSCE dimensions of security: the politico-military, the economic-environmental and the human dimension.
The human rights segment will be introduced with reports by senior OSCE representatives, including Janez Lenarcic, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Knut Vollebaek, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, and Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media.
Following the Warsaw segment, the review conference will continue in Vienna from 18 to 26 October and in Astana from 26 to 28 November.
Journalists are invited to attend the opening session, which will begin at 10:00 on Thursday, 30 September, in Hotel Sofitel Victoria, ul. Krolewska, Warsaw, as well as all other parts of the meeting. Media accreditation will be done at the conference venue - journalists are requested to bring valid press IDs.
The agenda, daily updates, interviews with participants and short summaries of events in English and Russian as well as other information will be available on the conference website:
