VIENNA, 7 December 2010 - Representatives from the 56 OSCE participating States, civil society and international organizations will gather in Vienna on Thursday to discuss how to promote freedom of religion or belief and how to respond to emerging challenges.

The two-day meeting, organized jointly by Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), will review the current status of religious freedom in the OSCE area. Special sessions will be devoted to sensitive topics such as education and religious symbols and expression.

Since the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, freedom of religion or belief has been one of the main pillars of the OSCE’s human dimension commitments. Participating States have committed themselves to respect the right to change one’s religion or belief and to manifest religion or belief, either alone or in community with others, in public or in private, through worship, teaching, practice and observance. They also emphasized the importance of strengthening interfaith and intercultural dialogue to promote greater tolerance, respect and mutual understanding.

Journalists are invited to attend the opening of the conference from 15.00 to 16.00 on 9 December in the Hofburg Congress Centre.

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