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CSCE

HELSINKI DOCUMENT 1992

THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGE

HELSINKI DECISIONS

IV

RELATIONS WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, RELATIONS WITH

NON-PARTICIPATING STATES, ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs)

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Increasing openness of CSCE activities, promoting understanding of the CSCE, expanding the role of NGOs

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(14) The participating States will provide opportunities for the increased involvement of non-governmental organizations in CSCE activities.

(15) They will, accordingly:

- apply to all CSCE meetings the guidelines previously agreed for NGO access to certain CSCE meetings;

- make open to NGOs all plenary meetings of review conferences, ODIHR seminars, workshops and meetings, the CSO when meeting as the Economic Forum, and human rights implementation meetings, as well as other expert meetings. In addition each meeting may decide to open some other sessions to attendance by NGOs;

- instruct Directors of CSCE institutions and Executive Secretaries of CSCE meetings to designate an "NGO liaison person" from among their staff;

- designate, as appropriate, one member of their Foreign Ministries and a member of their delegations to CSCE meetings to be responsible for NGO liaison;

- promote contacts and exchanges of views between NGOs and relevant national authorities and governmental institutions between CSCE meetings;

- facilitate during CSCE meetings informal discussion meetings between representatives of participating States and of NGOs;

- encourage written presentations by NGOs to CSCE institutions and meetings, titles of which may be kept and provided to the participating States upon request;

- provide encouragement to NGOs organizing seminars on CSCE-related issues;

- notify NGOs through the CSCE institutions of the dates of future CSCE meetings, together with an indication, when possible, of the subjects to be addressed, as well as, upon request, the activations of CSCE mechanisms which have been made known to all participating States.

(16) The above provisions will not be applied to persons or organizations which resort to the use of violence or publicly condone terrorism or the use of violence.

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VI. The Human Dimension

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Implementation

Implementation meetings on Human Dimension issues

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(15) Non-governmental organizations having relevant experience in the field of the Human Dimension are invited to make written presentations to the implementation meeting, e.g. through the ODIHR, and may be invited by the implementation meeting, on the basis of their written presentations, to address specific questions orally as appropriate.

CSCE Human Dimension seminars

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(18) These seminars will be organized in an open and flexible manner. Relevant international organizations and institutions may be invited to attend and to make contributions. So may NGOs with relevant experience. Independent experts attending the seminar as members of national delegations will also be free to speak in their own capacity.

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