TURNING WORDS INTO ACTION TO ADDRESS ANTISEMITISM | Seite 4

INTRODUCTION:
The 10th Anniversary of the OSCE’s Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism – what has become
known as the Berlin +10 Conference – stressed the need to foster broad, inclusive and
diverse civil society coalitions that support governments in their efforts to prevent and
respond to discrimination in all forms.
Moreover, OSCE’s 2014 Basel Ministerial Council Declaration No. 8 on Enhancing Efforts
to Combat anti-Semitism specifically tasked the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR) to promote dialogue and strengthen the capacity of civil society to
foster mutual respect and understanding in order to advance the cause of co-operation
between different communities.
In November 2015, ODIHR organized a conference on “Advancing Tolerance and NonDiscrimination through Coalition Building and Co-operation” in Vienna, which hosted 50
participants from across the OSCE region to discuss key factors that lead to sustainable and
inclusive coalitions.
In follow-up, on 16-17 June 2016, ODIHR together with the European Parliament AntiRacism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI) organized a Seminar on “Turning words into action
to address anti-Semitism, intolerance and discrimination”.
The event was organized within the framework of the Project on “Turning words into action
to address anti-Semitism”. It brought together MEPs and representatives of civil society and
intergovernmental organisations, in order to draw upon their expertise in respect of coalition
building and to analyse advantages of and challenges to building successful coalitions.
Additionally, the Seminar served as a platform to share ideas for the future development of
the ODIHR Project on “Turning words into action to address anti-Semitism” with a specific
focus on its coalition building component.
DAY 1
OPENING REMARKS:
Cristina Finch (Head of ODIHR’s Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department) opened
the Seminar by highlighting that it was the first event organized under the auspices of the
ODIHR Project on “Turning words into action to address anti-Semitism”. With a clear basis
in the expressed will of all OSCE participating States, this project set out to provide
government officials, parliamentarians and civil society actors with the knowledge and skills
they need to effectively address anti-Semitism. Ms. Finch further explained that the project
formed part of ODIHR’s overall efforts to support participating States and civil society in
combatting intolerance and discrimination and expressed gratitude to the Government of
Germany for its financial support of the project, as well as to the European Parliament’s Anti-

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