10. Applying Regional Approaches to SSG/R – 6

Recognizing that Regional Approaches Have Their Limitations

Although States in a given region may share similar challenges, specific national requirements must not be overlooked. Regional priorities should thus always be carefully examined against national priorities to ensure that there is complementarity and, hence, a rationale for the OSCE to support them within a given State.

In some circumstances, regional approaches may also not be beneficial: for example, when States are at different stages of implementation of a certain reform process or when a participating State does not share (or does not perceive itself as sharing) similar challenges with neighbouring States. Moreover, sometimes the mandates of OSCE field operations in a given region vary too much to allow for a coherent regional approach. Certain field operations do not have mandates for regional programmatic activities and require assistance from one of the OSCE institutions or the OSCE Secretariat if they are to give effective support to such initiatives. Appropriate assessments, including timely communication with host authorities, and exploring of possibilities with other OSCE Executive Structures, are thus essential to ensure that the benefits and challenges of a regional approach are well understood.