Seminar on OSCE Code of Conduct
Belarus
20/09/2010 - 20/09/2010A regional seminar was organised in Minsk by the OSCE Secretariat in co-operation with the host country Belarus and the donors of the project, Switzerland and Austria.This project has been coordinated with Operations Division and will be implemented by LAD.
The Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, adopted in 1994, is one of the main normative documents in the OSCE politico-military dimension. Through the Code of Conduct the participating States, inter alia, reaffirm the Helsinki Final Act and agree to apply the principles of democracy and rule of law to the national security policies and doctrines. In 2008, the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation adopted FSC Decision 01/08 to promote awareness raising and outreach of the Code of Conduct.
This three-day seminar brought together representatives from Belarus, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Poland and Ukraine, as well as, Baltic Countries. Other OSCE participating States were invited as observers. The participants included representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Interior and Justice, in addition to Parliamentarians and senior military, police and national security service personnel. Also attending were a number of experts from international research institutes, donor countries and the OSCE Secretariat.
- Deliver the seminar
The purpose of the seminar was to raise awareness among relevant national authorities about the commitments outlined in the OSCE Code of Conduct. Attention was given to, both, the so-called inter-state and intra-state elements of the Code. Topics for working sessions covered, inter alia , the relevance of the Code to the evolving security situation, as well as, democratic oversight of the security forces and security sector reform.
Austria has requested ISSAT's support in putting together a presentation, introducing the Principles and Concept of SSR, in order to increase participants' awareness and understanding of security sector reform, as well as present ISSAT and its work in SSR.