Other partners

Links with international financial institutions and economic organizations are maintained primarily by the Office of the OSCE Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities. The OSCE Strategy Document for the Economic and Environmental Dimension, adopted in 2003 at the Eleventh Meeting of the Ministerial Council in Maastricht, calls in particular for a reinforced co-operation with a number of such organizations and institutions, including:

• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• International Organization for Migration
• United Nations Development Programme
• United Nations Environment Programme
• World Bank
• World Trade Organization
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• International Monetary Fund
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are important partners of the OSCE, and regular participants in the annual Tripartite process between the UN, Council of Europe and OSCE.

At headquarters level, the ICRC is invited to participate in a number of OSCE meetings and conferences. The ICRC has been closely associated with the work on the OSCE Handbook of Best Practices on Small Arms and Light Weapons. Numerous contacts in the field include continued interaction in the South Caucasus and South-Eastern Europe.

The IOM and the OSCE co-operate closely in the fight against trafficking in human beings in the South Caucasus and South-Eastern Europe. Co-operation between the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the IOM has focused on assisting OSCE participating States in developing common approaches to migration policies.

As a regional organization under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, the OSCE serves as a forum for co-operation with regional and sub-regional organizations and initiatives in the OSCE area. This role of the OSCE was offered by participating States in the 1999 Charter for European Security, and then reiterated in the 2003 Maastricht Strategy. The 1999 Charter stated that "sub-regional co-operation has become an important element in enhancing security across the OSCE area."

The OSCE develops contacts and co-operation with such regional and sub-regional organizations and initiatives as:

• Central European Initiative
• Commonwealth of Independent States
• Council of the Baltic Sea States
• Collective Security Treaty Organization
• GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova)
• Organization of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation
• Southeast European Law Enforcement Center
• South-Eastern European Co-operation Process
• Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe
• and others

This includes participation by OSCE representatives, upon invitation, in summits and ministerial meetings convened by these organizations and initiatives, while their representatives are regularly invited to OSCE Ministerial Council meetings and other relevant events.

In implementation of the OSCE's role as a forum for sub-regional co-operation, in September 2002 the OSCE Secretary General convened a meeting with regional and sub-regional organizations and initiatives on preventing and combating terrorism. This launched a process for increased exchange of information.