- OSCE Chairperson offers condolences, calls for investigation intotragic incident in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast Gaza Strip

ASTANA, 3 June 2010 - The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Secretary of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Kanat Saudabayev, having condemned the acts which resulted in the loss of at least nine civilians and many wounded, called for a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the tragic incident.

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the incident that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip and offer my sincere condolences to the families of those killed and wounded. I call for an immediate impartial and comprehensive investigation conforming to international standards, as called for in the UN Security Council statement," he said.

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- OSCE Office organizes conference to promote women in local governance

BAKU, 3 June 2010 - The importance of increasing women’s participation political life is the main focus of a conference organized today by the OSCE Office in Baku together with local non-governmental organizations.

Women are increasingly taking an active role in the political life of Azerbaijan. In the last municipal election, held in December 2009, women were elected to 26 percent of the seats on municipal councils, an increase from 4 percent in the previous election, held in December 2005.

"I hope that this six-fold increase was the beginning of a new era for women in Azerbaijan’s political life. I hope women will actively participate in the November 2010 parliamentary elections," said Ambassador Bilge Cankorel, the Head of the OSCE Office in Baku.

The conference, co-organized with the NGOs Women Leaders and the Institute for Democratic Development also featured a panel discussion on ways to increase women’s involvement in political decision-making.

The OSCE Office in Baku plans a series of countrywide training sessions for women on leadership and advocacy skills before the parliamentary elections. The training sessions, which particularly target remote regions, are intended to invigorate the political life of the country and improve the level of civic participation of women’s groups. Participants in the training sessions will develop pilot advocacy campaign projects addressing local concerns.

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- Statement by the co-facilitators of the second joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM)

ERGNETI, 3 June 2010 - Today a meeting in the framework of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti, co-facilitated by Ambassador Hansjoerg Haber of the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) and Ambassador Bolat Nurgaliyev of the OSCE.

Participants received a statement of Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg relating to the issue of missing persons and detainees and exchanged views with him over an audio link.

The co-facilitators regret the fact that it proved impossible to discuss additional items. At the same time, however, they were encouraged by statements of participants regarding the usefulness of the IPRM to address issues affecting the lives of local communities, and their acknowledgment that urgent issues need to be addressed.

The co-facilitators call upon all participants to convene a regular meeting of the IPRM shortly.

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