Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the "human dimension" of security. The Office, originally named Office for Free Elections, was created in 1990 by the Charter of Paris and established in 1991. The name of the office was changed in 1992 to reflect the broadened mandate it received at the 1992 Helsinki Summit.

Młodziejowski Palace in Warsaw, the seat of ODIHR

Based in Warsaw (Poland), ODIHR is active throughout the 57 participating States of the OSCE. It assists governments in meeting their commitments as participating States of the OSCE in the areas of elections, human rights, democracy, rule of law, and tolerance and non-discrimination. The Office also hosts the organization's Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues.

ODIHR is best known for its role in observing elections. It has observed more than elections across the OSCE region and has deployed some 75,000 observers.

The Office organizes the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Europe's largest human rights conference.

ODIHR's Director is Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir. The office has a staff of some 180.

ODIHR international electoral observer activities
  • During the United States elections, 2012—following media reports that tied ODIHR international electoral observers to the United Nations and accused them of having plans to interfere in the election—the observers, who said they were in the United States to review several benchmarks of democratic elections, were blocked from polls in nine of the 50 states—Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.[1]

ODIHR Directors

References
  1. Donovan Slack (November 6, 2012). "International Observers Blocked From Polls". Politico.com. A group of international electoral observers has been blocked from polling places in nine states and has had to take precautions in the face of security threats. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
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