OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities visits Norway to gain first-hand insight into the country’s management of diversity

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov visited Norway from 6 to 10 November 2023.

In Oslo, Abdrakhmanov met Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to discuss issues pertaining to his mandate, the situation within the OSCE and ways to promote peace and security in the OSCE area. In a meeting with Local Government and Regional Development Minister Erling Sande, the High Commissioner discussed Norway’s initiatives to promote and support the indigenous Sámi and national minorities, including raising intercultural awareness and ensuring funding for programmes.

While in Oslo, the High Commissioner met Norway’s Chair of the Arctic Council, members of Norway’s OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Ombud, the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud, and the Norwegian National Human Rights Institute, as well as with representatives of the national minorities.

In northern Norway, in Tromsø and Karasjok, the High Commissioner met with the Arctic Council’s Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat, representatives of the Sámi Parliament in Norway and representatives of the Sámi Council, including Sámi youth, as well as health care providers, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) Sápmi, and civil society organizations.

In both Oslo and northern Norway, the High Commissioner also met representatives of national minorities, as well as the Kvensk Institute, to discuss matters related to diversity governance and social inclusion.

The High Commissioner’s consultations with a number of OSCE participating States over the years have highlighted the importance of ensuring the social and economic participation of national minorities and indigenous peoples, including the nexus between climate change and security as it relates to the HCNM mandate. The High Commissioner has noted that this will likely become increasingly important in the future and therefore merits further attention by the OSCE to ensure peace and security. These discussions are reflected in a recent publication by the office of the High Commissioner entitled Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life. This link to climate change was discussed with all relevant interlocutors during the High Commissioner’s visit to Norway, where he encouraged the authorities to share their experience on this topic within the OSCE region.

High Commissioner Abdrakhmanov thanked the Foreign Ministry, including Ambassador Anne-Kirsti Karlsen, Permanent Representative of Norway to the OSCE, for organizing and participating in his visit, and expressed his deep appreciation for the warm welcome, good co-operation and excellent support of the officials and authorities, as well as all other interlocutors he met with while in Norway.