Slovenia to Take Over Human Security Network on 1 May
Slovenia will take over the presidency of the Human Security Network on 1 May 2006. For one year, the country will be in charge of this international group dealing with humanitarian issues which concern human security.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Slovenia will make an effort to strengthen and expand the role of the network and help it act within bilateral, regional and multilateral frameworks.
Slovenia's new assignment will be an opportunity to contribute to ensuring international peace and security and to respecting human rights, the ministry added.
The country expects that the chairmanship would enable it to express its foreign policy priorities more clearly than up to now, and win more respect in Europe and in the international community.
In addition to Slovenia, which joined the network in 1998, this informal group of countries includes Austria, Canada, Chile, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa (as an observer), Switzerland, and Thailand.
The aim of the group of countries, which meet twice a year and cooperate with other international and non-governmental organisations, is to provide solutions to issues regarding human security, and to strengthen the existing political and legal mechanisms in this field.
The network deals with the supervision of personal and light arms, international humanitarian law, peace operations, human rights and public safety. It is moreover concerned with civilians and children in armed conflicts, mines, the role of women and fight against AIDS.
The ministerial held in Mali in May 2004 adopted draft criteria for the network's enlargement which include a ban on land mines, the signing of the Roma statute of the International Criminal Court, and the ratification of six main human rights conventions.
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