Safeguarding Civic Space in the Digital Age: Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting II

Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings provide a platform for an exchange of views between OSCE participating States, OSCE institutions, international organizations, civil society, and other stakeholders to discuss implementation of specific OSCE commitments in the human dimension.

In 2026, the OSCE will hold three supplementary human dimension meetings. The first, on 16–17 March, will focus on democratic lawmaking for resilience. The second, on 11–12 May, will examine new technologies, human rights, and civic space. The third, on 29–30 June, will focus on torture prevention and multilateralism.

Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings are mandated meetings, organized within the framework of the Permanent Council by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, with support from ODIHR and other OSCE Institutions. The meeting modalities are set out in the Permanent Council decision (PC.DEC/476, 23 May 2002).

The second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting of 2026 will explore the risks and opportunities of digital technologies for civic space and human rights, with three sessions focused on:

• Digital threats to civic space
• Disinformation and civic space: implications for human rights and democracy
• Strengthening digital resilience for the protection of civic space

Representatives of the 57 OSCE participating States and OSCE institutions and structures, will be joined by representatives of international organizations, civil society organizations, media and other stakeholders. The Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting is open to those with relevant experience in the human dimension from the OSCE region. The Partners for Co-operation are invited to attend and contribute with respect to their co-operation and links with the OSCE in the field.

This meeting will be held in person only. In order to attend, participants need to register in advance before the deadline indicated below. The meeting will be livestreamed on this page without interpretation. 

Online registration for the conference will open on Tuesday, 31 March 2026, at 13:00 CET at https://meetings.odihr.pl and will close on Tuesday, 28 April, at 13:00 CET.

It is advisable to register well in advance. To facilitate the timely processing of registrations, it is important that user account information on https://meetings.odihr.pl is both complete and up to date.

To assist with registration, a user guide is available in English and Russian.

Kindly note that the upcoming meeting will be held in a smaller conference room than in the past. The organisers will provide an overflow room, where the meeting can be followed via live-stream.

Registered participants are welcome to request a side event slot at https://meetings.odihr.pl between 23 April at 13.00 CET and 24 April at 13.00 CET. 

Information about how to book a side event is included in the resources below.

Meeting co-ordination: Lauren Baranowska, Human Dimension Meetings Officer (lauren.baranowska@odihr.pl).

Registration, side events and other enquiries: hdmeetings@odihr.pl. 

More information about the event and participation will be published on this webpage in the coming weeks.

Please check this page again closer to the meeting date for updates, or contact us if you need more information.