Centre for Intercultural Studies

The Confidence-building Measures (CBM) Programme was established following the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Council of Europe which took place in Vienna in 1993. After the Summit, one of the key objectives of which was to achieve effective protection of national minorities, the Council of Europe drafted the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and developed a programme of confidence-building measures designed to improve tolerance and understanding between peoples.
The aim of the programme is to provide moral and financial support for projects developed by non-governmental partners, of which the main objective is to promote good relations between minorities and the majority.

The distinguishing feature of the Confidence-building Measures Programme is that, within an international organisation where the emphasis is on intergovernmental co-operation, it provides support for projects mainly submitted by non-governmental organisations. The upsurge of problems concerning majority-minority relations in specific countries has revealed the need to back up intergovernmental activities by implementing specific initiatives in particular fields in close co-operation with the majority and minority communities concerned.

Scope of the programme

The CBM Programme supports the implementation of projects designed to defuse possible tensions between different communities in order to break down the barriers that divide them. The aim is to enable those concerned to engage in dialogue, to learn and to work together so as to share experiences and promote mutual knowledge and understanding.

Confidence-building measures may cover various fields, in particular:
Democracy, human rights, the media, education, culture, social cohesion, transfrontier co-operation and youth.

The impact of projects in these fields will generally be felt at local level. They are therefore conceived as pilot projects or models for action that should stimulate the development of other, similar projects.