The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) [opens a new website] is the world's largest regional security organisation whose 56 participating states [opens a new website] stretch from Vancouver to Vladivostok.  Its origins date back to multilateral negotiations in the early 1970s, culminating in the Helsinki Final Act signed on 1 August 1975.

The OSCE is primarily concerned with conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. It has 19 field operations [opens a new website] in South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Today, the OSCE covers all three dimensions of security — the human, the politico-military and the economic-environmental, including work in the following areas:

• anti-trafficking (human beings, small arms, drugs)
• arms control
• border monitoring
• combating terrorism
• promoting democracy
• human rights
• media freedom
• minority rights
• policing
• rule of law

UK contributions

The total UK financial contribution to the OSCE institutions and field operations in 2006 - 07 was approximately £13.5 million. Of this, over 20 per cent funded the OSCE institutions and over 55 per cent funded OSCE field operations.

This sum included the cost of 30 secondees - British civilian and police experts -  to OSCE field missions.

You can find out more about OSCE secondments [opens a new website] and other jobs [opens a new website] in the OSCE here.

UK Delegation

The UK Delegation [opens a new website] to the OSCE works in three main areas:

• institutional work representing the UK at the weekly OSCE Permanent Council, the regular operational body for political consultation and decision making and other regular OSCE meetings.
• arms control work, which covers the Forum for Security Co-operation, the main negotiating body for conventional arms control.
• work with the OSCE’s human rights institutions, most notably the  Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) [opens a new website], to promote human rights and democracy through project work, election observation missions and legislative advice in participating States.

Election observation

The ODIHR organises observation missions to some of the elections held in OSCE participating states. The UK provides up to 10 per cent of all election observers.

Visit the ODHIR website [opens a new website] to find out what is involved in being an election observer.

The FCO does not recruit observers directly but awards contracts for supplying the UK contingent to various partners. A list of forthcoming elections and the organisations providing the observers is regularly updated on the FCO website. This is the latest state of play:

Potential OSCE Election Missions with UK Observers

Election Calendar 2008
Election	Type	Date	NGO	Status
Belarus	Parliamentary	28 September	BEWC	Completed
Azerbaijan	Presidential	15 October (tbc)	ERIS	Completed
USA	Presidental	4 November	ERIS	tbc

You can obtain details of how to participate in an election observation mission from the three organisations who currently recruit observers:

The British East West Centre/The Britain Russia Centre [opens a new website]
Only accepts enquiries by email: bewcelections@briteastwest.org.uk.

Electoral Reform International Services (ERIS) [opens a new website]
Only accepts enquiries by email: eom@eris.org.uk.

Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE Enterprises) [opens a new website]
Enquiries by email: louise.wrack@solaceenterprises.com or telephone: 0845 601 0649