Tolerance and Non-discrimination
Nuzhat Jafri of the Canadian
Council of Muslim Women,
speaking at a meeting on the
representation of Muslims in
public discourse in Warsaw
SARAH CROZIER
in May.
the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting to a broader audience, the ODIHR piloted
a project with ICARE (www.icare.to), one of
Western Europe’s leading news services dealing
with issues of racism and discrimination. During the meeting, ICARE provided online coverage of the debates on tolerance and non-discrimination, as well as issues related to Roma
and Sinti. In addition to providing news from
the venue, ICARE reporters also took questions
from organizations that were unable to attend
the event and asked respective government delegations on their behalf.
In 2005, the ODIHR conducted a mapping
exercise of the organizations working in the
field of tolerance and non-discrimination. As
a result, the Office was able to identify nongovernmental organizations that needed assistance in terms of identifying, preventing, and
responding to hate crimes and hate-motivated
incidents. In 2006, the ODIHR offered these
organizations a variety of support, including
the provision of small grants, as well as assistance in facilitating contacts, disseminating
information on tolerance and non-discrimination issues, and preparing written recommendations for participating States. As a result,
more than one hundred NGOs were able to
attend OSCE events, while a number of them
used their grants to carry out projects aimed
at monitoring and reporting on hate-motivated
violence. For example, the Office helped a Slovak organization join the International Network against Cyberhate, a coalition of 11 NGOs
that monitors hate-related content on the Internet and attempts to have it removed.
In May, the ODIHR, in co-operation with the
Personal Representative on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims, convened a roundtable to discuss practical measures to address negative stereotyping of Muslim communities in media reporting and political discourse. Topics discussed included the
impact of media reporting on public perceptions and on minority communities, improving reporting standards and accountability
while respecting the principles of freedom of
expression and self-regulation, and the effect of
media reporting on intercultural relations and
community cohesion. The discussion brought
together Muslim community-based organizations with media professionals and experts
from across the OSCE region, as well as policy makers from international organizations.
Representatives from the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly and the Office of the Representative
Annual Report
69
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