No. 23. (08/10/2004)

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Fall Meetings in Rhodes 2004

More than 130 parliamentarians from 43 participating States took part in the 2004 OSCE PA Fall Meetings, which were held in Rhodes, Greece, from 29 September - 1 October 2004. The two-day Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings consisted of a series of presentations and discussions focusing on trafficking in human beings as a security challenge, trafficking as a new form of slavery and international strategies in the fight against trafficking.

The Conference was addressed by prominent officials including Congressman Alcee L. Hastings, President of the OSCE PA, Anna Benaki, Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament and Panos Kammenos, Head of the Hellenic Delegation to the OSCE PA and Vice-President of the OSCE PA. The Conference was also addressed by senior OSCE officials and expert speakers including Helga Konrad, OSCE Special Representative on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Marcin Swiecicki, OSCE Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, and Marjan Wijers, President of the EU Experts Group on Trafficking in Human Beings.

The Parliamentary Forum on the Mediterranean (1 October), consisted of a series of presentations and discussions focussing on fighting terrorism in the Mediterranean and economic security, trade and co-operation in the Mediterranean. Prominent speakers included former PA President Bruce George, Special Representative for the Mediterranean, Jan Kubis, Secretary General of the OSCE and Janez Lenarcic, Chairman of the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group.

Since 1995 the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly organizes each year a Fall Meeting to enhance inter-parliamentary dialogue on important topics related to OSCE commitments and values. Topics covered during topical OSCE PA Seminars and Fall Meetings include:

/www.oscepa.org/