OSCE Office For Democratic Institutions And Human Rights
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The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
(OSCE) dealing with the " human dimension" of security. The Office, originally named Office for Free Elections, was created in 1990 by the
Charter of Paris The Charter of Paris for a New Europe (also known as the Paris Charter) was adopted by a summit meeting of most European governments in addition to those of Canada, the United States and the Soviet Union, in Paris from 19–21 November 1990. The ...
and established in 1991. The name of the office was changed in 1992 to reflect the broadened mandate it received at the 1992
Helsinki Summit Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
. Based in Warsaw, Poland, ODIHR is active throughout the 57 participating States of the OSCE. It assists governments in meeting their commitments as participating States of the OSCE in the areas of elections, human rights, democracy,
rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
, and
tolerance Tolerance or toleration is the state of tolerating, or putting up with, conditionally. Economics, business, and politics * Toleration Party, a historic political party active in Connecticut * Tolerant Systems, the former name of Veritas Software ...
and non-
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
. The Office also hosts the organization's
Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues The Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues is the main structure within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assisting governments in implementing their commitments relating to the rights of Roma and Sinti populations. Th ...
. On 4 December 2020,
Matteo Mecacci Matteo Mecacci (born 21 February 1975) is an Italian diplomat serving as director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR). In the past, he was a Radical Party Member of Parliament in Italy and elected in the lis ...
of Italy, received a nomination for the position of ODIHR's Director. The office has a staff of some 180.


ODIHR activities

ODIHR is best known for its role in observing elections. It has observed more than elections across the OSCE region and has deployed some 75,000 observers. The Office organizes the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Europe's largest human rights conference.


ODIHR international electoral observer activities

* During the
United States elections, 2012 The 2012 United States elections took place on November 6, 2012. Democratic President Barack Obama won election to a second term, though the Republican Party retained control of the House of Representatives. As of 2020, this is the most rece ...
—following media reports that tied ODIHR international electoral observers to the United Nations and accused them of having plans to interfere in the election—the observers, who said they were in the United States to review several benchmarks of democratic elections, were blocked from polls in nine of the 50 states— Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.


ODIHR Directors


See also

*
List of human rights organizations :''The list is incomplete; please add known articles or create missing ones'' The following is a list of articles on the human rights organisations of the world. It does not include political parties, or academic institutions. The list includes ...


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control Intergovernmental human rights organizations International organisations or its agencies based in Warsaw Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe he:הארגון לביטחון ולשיתוף פעולה באירופה#המשרד למוסדות דמוקרטיים וזכויות אדם