The post of OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, one of the Organization's key political positions, was established by a CSCE decision taken in Helsinki in July 1992 to "help prevent conflicts at the earliest possible stage."
The High Commissioner is elected every three years. The headquarters of the Office of the High Commissioner is located in The Hague (Netherlands).
On January 1, 1993, Max van der Stoel (Netherlands) became the first OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, who was elected for this term three times.
From 2001 to July 2007, the post of High Commissioner was held by Rolf Ekeus (Sweden). From July 2007 to July 2013, the post was held by Knut Vollebaek (Norway). From August 2013 to August 2016, the post was held by Ms. Astrid Tours (Finland). From July 2017 to July 2020, the post was held by Lamberto Zannier (Italy). Since December 2020, the post of High Commissioner for National Minorities has been held by Kairat Abdrakhmanov (Kazakhstan).
The main task of the High Commissioner is to identify ethnic tensions that can give rise to conflict between OSCE participating States by constantly reviewing developments concerning minorities throughout the OSCE area. He accomplishes this task through personal visits and meetings with representatives of governments and minorities, as well as through the analysis of information from a variety of sources. In the light of this information, he assesses the existing threats to stability in the OSCE region. The High Commissioner reports his findings to the Chairman-in-Office and periodically informs the OSCE Permanent Council.
The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities has repeatedly spoken positively about Kazakhstan's rich experience in establishing optimal forms of interaction between ethnic communities, strengthening interethnic and interfaith harmony, enhancing the culture of interethnic and interfaith relations, preventing extremism and xenophobia.
Within the framework of cooperation with the HCNM in Kazakhstan, several joint projects have been implemented:
1.Promotion of multilingual education in the South Kazakhstan region (now the Turkestan region).
2. Training in the management of interethnic relations.
3. Participation of national minorities in Parliament.
4. Project "Police activity in multinational Kazakhstan" (June 2012 - December 2013).
An important stage of cooperation was the first visit of the HCNM A.Tours to Kazakhstan in the period from June 23 to 27, 2014, during which she had the opportunity to get acquainted with the achievements of the Republic of Kazakhstan in building a tolerant and multinational society.
From 2017 to 2019, the HCNM Office cooperated with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of the Memorandum of Cooperation on issues of multilingual and multicultural education, an updated text of the Memorandum has been prepared, which the Office is ready to sign with the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the near future. The Office maintains cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the project “Police activity in multinational Kazakhstan”.
The OSCE High Commissioner highly appreciates the role of the ANC as an institution thanks to which a unique model of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional harmony has been formed in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
A landmark event in recent years has been the visit of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov to Kazakhstan on a working visit to participate in the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. During the visit, the HCNM met with the country's leadership, where they discussed the current situation in the field of interethnic relations in the OSCE area of responsibility, as well as the recommendations of the HCNM Office on conflict prevention at an early stage. The High Commissioner highly appreciated Kazakhstan's experience in maintaining social harmony and national unity.