26 April 2007
Bilbao Campus
This meeting was targeted at 5th year students and recent graduates from the Faculties of Law, La Comercial and Engineering who were interested in gaining first-hand information about the possibilities of working in the OSCE, an European institution working on a comprehensive approach to security (political- military, economic-environmental and human security) and to conflict prevention.
In addition, in 2007, the Organisation for European Security and Cooperation (OSCE) is presided over by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. In this regard, in March and April, Helsinki España, the only NGO that works within the frame of this international body, carried out information sessions on OSCE jointly with the Human Rights Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in ten Spanish Universities, including the University of Deusto.
The aim of these presentation-discussion sessions was to deal with the OSCE Human Dimension of security. Therefore, a number of issues were discussed. On the one hand, OSCE action lines in the field of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Democratisation and the Rule of Law, in those regions where it operates. And, on the other hand, the job opportunities in this International Body for university students, targeted at students from all the Faculties at the chosen Campuses.
This initiative strengthens the ‘OSCE special Programme’ that was announced by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in 2006, with the aim of increasing the presence of Spanish citizens in International Bodies, especially in its Secretariat in Vienna, in important positions and in OSCE missions in the Caucasus and Asia Minor. In this regard, the speakers attending this session were experts from the Human Rights Office, from the Spanish OSCE Chairmanship Unit, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Helsinki España itself.
In particular, Ana Nieto, Secretary-General of Helsinki Spain-Human Dimension, opened this session. This was followed by a screening of a DVD on OSCE. At 16:15 pm, ambassador José Ángel López Jorrín, coordinator of the Spanish OSCE Chairmanship 2007 Spanish Presidency of the Ministry of External Affairs and Cooperation, gave a lecture entitled 'La OSCE y las líneas de actuación en el campo de la dimensión humana: Derechos Humanos y Libertades Fundamentales, Democratización y Estado de Derecho. Prioridades de la Presidencia española OSCE 2007'. Then, Alejandro Espinosa, former International Observer of OSCE missions in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia, talked about 'Misiones OSCE. ¿Cómo es el trabajo en una Misión? ¿Cuáles son los perfiles profesionales? Plan de Destacados españoles en OSCE'. This session ended with a lecture by Ana Nieto on 'Proyecto REACT de la OSCE. Pre-Mission Training'.
