Policy Brief Number 2: Challenges to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in 2010

The major challenge facing Kazakhstan during its chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010 will be to preserve the mandate of the Offi ce of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which has been contested by Russia and several CIS participating states. At the OSCE Madrid Ministerial Meeting in November 2007, which designated Kazakhstan as OSCE chairman in 2010, Kazakhstan committed itself to protect the OSCE’s core human dimension mandate, including the autonomy and current mandate of ODIHR.