Helsinki+50: CMI hosts peacebuilding and mediation panel at conference marking OSCE’s origins

The 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act will be marked by a conference at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki on 31 July 2025. CMI will organises a discussion on ‘Innovating approaches to engage civil societies in peacebuilding and mediation efforts’ as the OSCE’s past and future come under the spotlight.

As part of Finland’s chairpersonship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2025, Helsinki is the venue for a high-level conference that marks 50 years since the Helsinki Final Act was signed.

The Act laid the foundation for what would eventually become the OSCE, the world’s largest regional security organisation and a pillar of the European security landscape, and it enshrined principles such as territorial integrity and respect for human rights.

Made up of 57 states, the OSCE describes its security approach as “comprehensive”. It comprises three core areas: ‘hard’ security such as conflict prevention; economic development and cooperation; and human rights.

The OSCE is also an arena for political dialogue and undertakes projects on the ground, especially in areas afflicted by instability or conflict. It seeks to uphold and implement the values first agreed upon in Helsinki in 1975 and in its own words, “to build and sustain stability, peace and democracy for more than one billion people.”

Finland’s government says that it hopes the landmark event “will send a loud and clear message for the full respect of the Helsinki principles and the UN Charter”.

Currently, the OSCE region faces unprecedented challenges, including open conflicts, and enduring and new threats that pose a challenge to national and regional stability and resilience.

The conference will highlight the vital role of civil society in advancing respect for the principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act. It aims to provide a forum to discuss how different actors can cooperate to address threats to peace, human rights and democracy.

Panel

Against this backdrop, CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation organises a panel discussion on ‘Innovating Approaches to Engage Civil Societies in Peacebuilding and Mediation efforts’ on 31 July at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki.

In the discussion moderated by Lucile Bardin, Programme Officer at CMI, the expert panellists are: Hayk Toroyan, CMI Advisor, South Caucasus; Liliia Oliinyk, mediator, Ukrainian Community of Dialogue Practitioners; and Samara Papieva, Kyrgyzstan Country Director of non-profit Search for Common Ground, biographies of whom are found below.

They are actively engaged on the ground in the OSCE area (e.g. Ukraine, South Caucasus, Central Asia). The three will share their experiences and insights on how to creatively and effectively involve civil society in global peacemaking efforts, both complementing and enhancing official efforts by states and international organisations.

The panel discussion is held from 12.30 to 13.15 and is open to those attending the conference at Finlandia Hall.

Parts of the programme will be livestreamed but side events (full list here) will not be.

Panellists

Samara Papieva is the Country Director for Search for Common Ground in Kyrgyzstan, where she leads multi-sectoral initiatives focused on peacebuilding, inclusive governance, and conflict transformation across Central Asia. She brings over 15 years of experience working with civil society, governments, and international organisations on preventing violent extremism, promoting human rights, and advancing social cohesion.

Previously, Samara served as Country Programme Coordinator at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Kyrgyzstan, overseeing a major EU-UN initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls. She has also held roles with UNICEF Turkey, UNDP, and UNFPA, managing and supporting peacebuilding and protection programmes. Earlier in her career, she led programme work at the Foundation for Tolerance International, which is the largest peacebuilding NGO in Central Asia and at Saferworld. There she produced a number of policy briefs contributing to police reform processes in Kyrgyzstan. Samara has also co-authored a number of learning documents on peacebuilding, horizontal and effective coordination, and community-led solutions.

In 2022 she was one of the initiators of Yntymak Week, which has since become a regionally recognised platform for dialogue and collaboration. In 2024, she received the State Commission on Religious Affairs Medal for Cooperation, and earlier in her academic career, was awarded the President of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Stipend for Excellence. She is a member of the Global Council on Tech and Social Cohesion and explores innovative tools in mediation, including deliberative technologies. She holds a law degree from Osh State University.

Hayk Toroyan has been working with CMI since 2010. From 2016 he has been CMI’s Regional Coordinator and Advisor in the South Caucasus. In his role Hayk leads capacity-building workshops for government officials, political parties and civil society, facilitates national dialogues between track 1 and track 2 actors as well as conflicting parties and covers CMI’s work in the South Caucasus. Hayk is a graduate of Central European University’s Nationalism Studies programme (Budapest, Hungary). He also holds a BA and MA in International Relations from Yerevan State University. At Central European University, he defended his Master’s thesis: “Challenges and opportunities for peacemaking in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”.

Previously Hayk worked at the Armenian UN Association, the OSCE Office in Yerevan as well as in the sphere of media and advertisement. Hayk regularly provides workshops and lectures for students in Armenia and Eastern Europe on conflict analysis and conflict resolution. He is the author of Conflict Analysis Manual “8 simple tools to analyze difficult conflicts” financed by UNDP. In 2024, he finished the Graduate Certificate Programme in Mediation and Conflict Resolution from the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies.

Liliia Oliinyk has over 20 years of experience in law and victim protection, and 6 years in mediation and dialogue. Since 2022, she has worked as a facilitator with communities hosting internally displaced persons, coordinating mobile teams, developing approaches to conflict management, strengthening communities’ capacity for dialogue and conflict response.

Her experience includes supporting institutional change in communities; including drafting model regulations for local accessibility councils, preparing methodological guidance for local authorities, and facilitating their implementation.

Liliia is an expert in victim-centred approaches in cases of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as conflict-related crimes. She provides legal assistance to victims, develops protection strategies, and supports advocacy initiatives and projects aimed at enhancing access to justice. She also has expertise in monitoring trials, particularly in cases of gender-based violence, with a focus on ensuring respect for victims’ rights.

She is part of the Ukrainian Community of Dialogue Practitioners.

Lucile Bardin has extensive experience in political analysis and engagement, as well as in project design, implementation, and management in the field of conflict prevention and peace mediation. Since she joined CMI in 2016, Lucile has been working in various conflict contexts across the OSCE area, engaging with OSCE colleagues in Vienna and in the field and complementing the OSCE’s efforts towards sustainable peace and security in the region. As part of CMI’s Eurasia team, she worked on the South Caucasus region, travelling regularly to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. She also worked on Moldova, where she lived for three years. In her current position, Lucile implements CMI’s work in Afghanistan and takes part in the organisation’s developing engagement in Central Asia.

Earlier in her career, Lucile also took part in France’s public and cultural diplomacy efforts in Moldova as Language and Education Officer at the French Embassy in Chisinau.

Based in Brussels, Lucile speaks English, Russian and German besides her native French. She holds a dual Master’s degree from Sciences Po Lille and the University of Münster, as well as an M.A. degree in Nationalism Studies from Central European University Budapest. Lucile is also an active member of the Steering Committee of the volunteer-based network Women in International Security (WIIS) Brussels.