With 57 North American, European, and Asian member countries, the OSCE – Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe – is the largest regional security organisation in the world. It acts to ensure stability, peace, and democracy by means of political dialogue and projects in the field, in the physical and political space that extends from Vancouver to Vladivostok.
The OSCE adopts a global, cooperative approach to security. It covers a wide range of questions connected with security, including armaments control, preventive diplomacy, measures aimed at increasing trust and security, human rights, democratisation, and economic and environmental security. All the Countries involved in the OSCE’s activities have equal status, and decisions are taken based on the principle of consensus.
The Organisation’s activities can be broken down into three basic sectors: the political – military dimension that deals with military aspects of security; the economic – environmental dimension that mainly deals with questions regarding energy, the environment, and economic development; and the human dimension, dedicated to the rule of law, and safeguarding human rights.
The Foreign Affairs Ministries of the OSCE’s member Countries hold meetings annually, referred to as Ministerial Councils. Heads of State and Governments can meet at ad-hoc summits. The ordinary OSCE body for political consultation and the decision-making process is the Permanent Council, in which the permanent representatives of the member Countries meet.
The OSCE’s internal structure comprises a Secretariat based in Vienna; three institutions with specialized mandates—the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the High Commissioner on National Minorities—and a network of field Missions operating in the Balkans, Moldova and Central Asia. In Ukraine, following the closure of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in 2022, the OSCE continues to operate through the Support Programme for Ukraine, which is backed by Italy.
International staff working in the Secretariat, institutions and field Missions may be contracted or seconded (with the costs borne by their home country). For information on employment opportunities within the OSCE, please visit the website of the Permanent Mission of Italy to the OSCE in Vienna and the relevant section of this website.