At its meeting on Friday in Paris, the Committee on Culture expressed concerns about the systematic destruction of cultural heritage during conflicts, particularly those that are ethnically driven. The report by Ismeta Dervoz (Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD), adopted by the committee, underlines that the destruction of monuments is often an assault on the cultural identity of a population, which aims to prevent communities from returning to places after a conflict and recognising them.

21 November 2014 – Key steps have been taken recently to deliver food vouchers to some 10,000 internally displaced people in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported today, while underscoring that ensuring access to food in the country’s crisis-gripped eastern region remains a “priority concern.”

4 November 2014 – The United Nations refugee agency today launched a global campaign aimed at ending within a decade the problem of statelessness – a legal limbo for the more than 10 million people worldwide who lack a nationality and the human rights protections that go with it.

VIENNA, 4 November 2014 – The OSCE plays a pivotal role in easing divisions, healing wounds and managing change, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, told the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna today, and emphasized the close UN-OSCE partnership in enhancing conflict prevention and resolution.

UN study calls on governments and the social partners to put in place efficient job placement services and training opportunities, and to strengthen linkages between education and training systems and the world of work.

Strasbourg, 27/10/2014 - “All cases of serious human rights violations that have occurred in Crimea since February 2014, including the recent cases of abductions, must be effectively investigated and those responsible held accountable.

VIENNA 7 October 2014. OSCE participating States are responding to threats from extremists by creating laws that include provisions which might seriously limit free expression and free media online and offline.

There needs to be a permanent and durable ceasefire in Ukraine, together with the unconditional and complete withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, said Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC) opening today’s current affairs debate on the crisis in Ukraine.

In a keynote speech opening the 80th PEN International Congress in Bishkek, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, emphasized free media and free expression as vital instruments for a secure and peaceful world.