Introduction
In
its Helsinki Document of July 1992, the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) established the position of High
Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) to be an instrument of conflict
prevention at the earliest possible stage in regard to tensions involving national
minority issues. Over a period of 30 years, the six successive High Commissioners
have encountered a number of recurring issues in their work. In response, they
have published nine thematic Recommendations and Guidelines providing insight
and advice for participating States facing such issues. This present document is
the tenth set of thematic Recommendations and Guidelines in the series. These
syntheses of accumulated experience and expertise on selected themes provide
comprehensive, detailed and nuanced overviews of their subject matter. They
also enhance understanding of how the selected themes affect relations between
national minorities and other groups in society. This gives the High Commissioner
a range of options to consider when assessing which measures are best suited for
preventing conflicts involving national minorities.
The first three sets of Recommendations – The Hague Recommendations regarding
the Education Rights of National Minorities (The Hague Recommendations), The
Oslo Recommendations regarding the Linguistic Rights of National Minorities
(Oslo Recommendations) and The Lund Recommendations on the Effective
Participation of National Minorities in Public Life (Lund Recommendations) –
are primarily concerned with clarifying minority-rights standards in the areas
of education, language and participation in public life. The subsequent two
publications – Guidelines on the use of Minority Languages in the Broadcast Media
and Recommendations on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies – address specific
challenges that many States face in ensuring minorities’ access to broadcast
media in their own languages and in providing effective policing in ethnically
diverse societies. The Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations on National Minorities in
Inter-State Relations (Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations) address the conditions
and limitations within which States may support minorities residing in other
Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life
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