materials for law enforcement on trafficking and sex crimes investigation, identify law enforcement trainers to conduct training, and facilitate the funding of training sessions for law enforcement authorities in OSCE participating States. One of the aspects of policing of ethnic minorities was addressed by the OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area (2003). The SPMU was tasked to assist participating States in developing programmes and confidence-building measures, such as community policing, to improve the relations between Roma and Sinti people and the police, particularly at the local level, and to produce a compilation of police “best practices” in the OSCE region with respect to policing and Roma and Sinti communities. Another established task was to assist the participating States in developing codes of conduct to prevent racial profiling and improve interethnic relations. The OSCE Strategy to Address Threats to Security and Stability in the Twenty-First Century, adopted by the 11th Ministerial Council in Maastricht in 2003 stated that the Strategic Police Matters Unit was set up to improve the capacity of participating States to address threats posed by criminal activity and to assist them in upholding the rule of law. The aim was to enhance key policing skills, including respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality, adopted by the 12th Ministerial Council of the OSCE (Sofia 2004), urged the participating States, the Secretariat, Institutions and field operations to ensure that a gender perspective is integrated into OSCE activities, programmes and projects. The aim shall be to promote the practice of gender equality in the OSCE area, which is essential to comprehensive security. In this context, the SPMU was specifically tasked to enhance its project development to assist participating States in reacting to sexual violence offences and in including elements such as special investigation techniques, and interview skills designated for use with victims of sexual assault including children, and information on referral mechanisms for victim assistance, in the police training curriculum. The fight against organized crime came to the forefront of OSCE priorities during 2005 and was recognized in a Decision on Combating Transnational Organized Crime adopted by the 13th Ministerial Council of the OSCE (Ljubljana 2005). It tasked the OSCE Secretary General with providing the requesting participating States with support for the mobilization of technical assistance, including the necessary expertise and resources, from relevant competent international organizations for the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNODC) and its Protocols. The Decision also tasked the OSCE Permanent Council to work on designing, with the support of the Secretary General and the relevant OSCE institutions, possible measures and forms of assistance that could be available to requesting participating States with a view to improving and promoting the functioning of criminal justice systems. Ljubljana Ministerial Decision No. 15/05 on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women urged participating States, with support and assistance of the OSCE, to take all necessary legislative, policy and programmatic monitoring and evaluation measures to promote and protect full enjoyment of the human rights of women, and to prevent and combat all forms of gender-based violence against them. The decision also tasked the Permanent Council to encourage the development by relevant OSCE institutions and structures of programmes, projects and policies to assist participating States, at their request, in combating violence against women and girls and providing assistance to victims. The Ljubljana Ministerial Council also adopted the OSCE Border Security and Management Concept, which first and foremost provides participating Sates with a political framework for their co-operation on border-related issues. It provides objectives and principles for this cooperation and finally defines modalities for OSCE activities in this area. The OSCE “acts upon the request of participating States” to ensure dialogue on border-related issues 121