OSCE, UN, Council of Europe and experts explore challenges of digitalization, migration and gender for developing language policies at event in Oslo

OSLO, 1 June 2018 – Global migration, digitalization and the role of women present modern challenges and opportunities to effective and balanced language policies, agreed participants at the close of a high-level conference on language policy and conflict prevention held yesterday in Oslo, marking the 20th anniversary of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities’ (HCNM) Oslo Recommendations.

“To respond to these new challenges is essential for effective conflict prevention,” emphasized the OSCE High Commissioner Lamberto Zannier, while noting that he observes a “renewed urgency” for States to engage in the issues of language policy and linguistic rights. Zannier thanked “the many high-level representatives of the OSCE participating States for contributing to the debate by sharing national best practices and lessons learned in the implementation of language-related policies.”

Taking stock of developments during the past 20 years since the launch of the Oslo Recommendations, former HCNM and former Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek said that the Recommendations, as “soft law”, helped to improve diversity management in Europe and that national legislation on minority rights has been adopted in many of European states.

Referring to the current challenge presented by migration, Audun Halvorsen, Norway's State Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs cited “breaches of fundamental freedoms, discrimination against minorities, diminishing respect for the rule of law, increasing nationalism and populism – all of which can lead to conflict. We are living in challenging times, and the need for tools to prevent conflict is great.”

UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes referred to the increasing co-operation between his office and the HCNM, the Council of Europe and other actors, and recommended a “united front with other international actors and the use of joint letters, statements and specialized high-level conferences to address modern language rights challenges.”

Ambassador of Italy to Norway and Representative of the Italian 2018 OSCE Chairmanship Alberto Colella reiterated that national minority issues feature high on the agenda of the Italian OSCE Chairmanship. “Together with High Commissioner Zannier, the Italian Chairmanship will invite OSCE participating States to Udine, Italy, to debate the role of minorities in inter-state relations at an event marking the tenth anniversary of the HCNM’s Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations,” he said.

At the conference, HCNM staff officially launched the book, Language Policy and Conflict Prevention, which provides examples of best practices and recommendations to assist states in developing language policies that contribute to inter-ethnic peace. A video explaining the Oslo Recommendations was also screened during the event.

Photos from the event are available at: https://www.osce.org/hcnm/383187.