Matteo Mecacci at the OSCE Human Dimension Committee meeting, 14 November 2011.VIENNA, 15 November 2011 – In a continuation of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's efforts to forge closer co-operation with the OSCE's governmental side in Vienna, Matteo Mecacci, chair of the OSCE PA's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, met with his counterpart committee Monday and outlined several ways the upcoming Ministerial Council could benefit from parliamentary input.

Addressing the OSCE's Human Dimension Committee meeting, Mecacci drew attention to the work of the OSCE PA on democracy and human rights, and urged the Ministerial decisions to reflect the fact that the political priorities of our organization are "in direct connection with the problems faced by our people."

Draft decisions related to the protection of journalists, ensuring freedom of expression, national human rights institutions and combating discrimination all include language from previous Parliamentary Assembly declarations. He offered the Assembly as a resource to ambassadors working on drafting language for the Ministerial in Vilnius, highlighting the "wealth of substance, legitimacy, and intellectual capacity [that] exists in the Parliamentary Assembly."

He encouraged the ambassadors "to think of us as an integral part of the discourse in the run-up to Vilnius."

"Through our annual resolutions, we aim to foster debate among legislators from 55 participating States to advance the capacity of our institutions to learn from each other," he said. "Democracy is a work in progress."