199. Formally reporting to the Permanent CounIn the 1994 Budapest Document, States encil at least three times a year and offering addi- couraged the CiO to “inform the Permanent
tional opportunities for informal briefings and Council of serious cases of alleged non-impleconsultations, the ODIHR, on a day-to-day basis, mentation of human dimension commitments,
works most closely with the CiO. This relation- including on the basis of information from the
ship ranges from the provision of background ODIHR” (Dec. VIII, para. 6).
materials for the Chairman’s official visits and
the offer of specifically solicited advice and reporting, to close co-ordination on implementation meetings and other special events in the human dimension. As a corollary, the CiO
clearly has a special role to play in encouraging States to take advantage of the assistance that
the ODIHR offers.
Ñ Field operations
200. Field operations are deployed in a variety of contexts. Some larger missions operate
within larger international presences as part of a broad international engagement in a postconflict environment. More staff may be working for their human rights/rule of law and democratization departments than for the entire ODIHR. Also, elections have been organized
and/or supervised by these large missions, where the ODIHR had no place to observe. At the
same time, the OSCE maintains operations that consist of little more than small liaison offices, where one or two international staff are explicitly designated to deal with the human
dimension.
201. In this context, one fundamental issue of organizational coherence should not be neglected: namely, that all field operations bear an inherent role and responsibility to assist
their host countries to fulfil their human dimension commitments.114 Monitoring and reporting on human rights, rule of law, and the state of democracy are therefore implicitly included in each mission’s mandate. The OSCE can only function credibly and efficiently if its
logic of comprehensive security with the human dimension at its core is reflected in every
single activity the Organization undertakes.
202. In general, OSCE staff in field operations regard the ODIHR as an external resource for
substantive expertise that can complement their own strengths: the relationship they have
developed with local counterparts and the ability to focus on one single country or context.
The relationship with field operations thus goes significantly beyond co-operation in planning and implementing projects, which was one of the key outcomes of discussions with the
field operations over recent years. The ODIHR’s work encompasses a much larger range of
interaction with States, which often cannot be apportioned into projects. The ODIHR can offer more than projects: external experts and its own expertise, materials for training as well
as training itself, analysis, and advice. This was recognized by the Panel of Eminent Persons,
which recommended that: “Field operations should receive more specialized support, particularly in relation to all phases of capacity-building projects, from OSCE Institutions including
more effective use of short-term staff visits.”115
114 Cf. Chapter IV, para. 3, of the 1993 Rome Ministerial Council Document (“Further emphasis will be given to human dimension issues in mandates of CSCE missions”), as well as Decision VIII, para. 11, of the 1994 Budapest Document (“ODIHR will be
consulted on a CSCE mission’s mandate before adoption and will contribute to the follow-up of mission reports as decided by the
Permanent Council”).
115
68
Common Purpose, para. 42(g), note 61 of this report.
Common Responsibility: Commitments and Implementation
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