The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, welcomed today the collective commitment and resolve of the four Central Asian countries and other states in the region to improve legal procedures and strengthen cooperation to protect the rights of migrants and asylum-seekers during mixed migration movements.

Around 6.5 million people were newly displaced, almost twice as many as the 3.5 million during 2011. The conflicts in Syria and DRC were responsible for around half of the new displacements.

ALMATY, 14 March 2013 - Regional cooperation on disaster risk reduction in Central Asia and the South Caucasus received a major boost this week as representatives from eight countries consulted with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) on a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction.

An OSCE Talks report based on a seminar held at Trinity College Dublin on 24 October 2012.

Contents: An OSCE Talks report based on a seminar held at Trinity College Dublin on 24 October 2012.

Contents:

Foreword by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office

Session I. Reporting on peace processes, shaping public opinion

Dialogue and wider engagement in post-conflict peace processes

Erwan Fouéré

Credibility, coherence and connectedness: communication in post-conflict interventions

Alexandra Stiglmayer

Reducing the risk of disaster in Armenia

Hovhannes Arakelyan has witnessed hundreds of floods in his remote village of Sipanik, in Western Armenia. "I have seen smashed roads, houses, and crops, and disasters used to diminish our hope for a better life," says the 72-year-old.

Millions of people from the most vulnerable and poorest communities in Central America, Central Asia and the Caucasus region, South-East Asia and Southern Africa will benefit from the European Commission's Disaster-Preparedness Programme (DIPECHO). This year € 35 million has been allocated to help those at risk from natural disasters.

"Building up the resilience of people who face the forces of nature is a central plank of our humanitarian aid policy", said Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.

EU bolsters its support to reformers in its Southern and Eastern neighbourhoods

Brussels, 15 May 2012 - In May 2011, in the midst of dramatic changes sweeping the Southern Neighbourhood, the EU completed a major review of its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). According to a policy of “more for more”, committed reformers in the EU’s Southern and Eastern neighbourhood would be awarded greater and broader EU support.

Pour le Président de l’Azerbaïdjan, la faim est un des “plus grands fléaux du XXème siècle”

20 avril 2012, Bakou (Azerbaïdjan) - Les pays d'Europe et d'Asie Centrale ont réaffirmé aujourd'hui à l'unanimité leur volonté d'œuvrer ensemble à la promotion du développement rural durable, en affrontant la malnutrition et en éliminant la faim.

S'adressant à la Conférence régionale de la FAO pour l'Europe, le Président de l'Azerbaïdjan Ilham Aliyev a qualifié la faim "d'un des plus grands fléaux du XXème siècle".

People internally displaced by conflict and violence

For the last 14 years, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre has monitored intern- al displacement resulting from conflict and violence across the world. In 2011, the number of people internally displaced by these causes stood at 26.4 million.