Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues ODIHR Director Janez Lenarčič (right) and First Deputy Director Toralv Nordbo (left) taking part in a session of the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on sustainable policies for Roma and Sinti integration on 10 July in Vienna. breakthrough and highlights worrying developments in some areas within the OSCE region. Although many governments have succeeded in developing and adopting national strategies for improving the situation of Roma and Sinti, there are substantive shortcomings with regard to their effective implementation, especially at the local level. One particular area of concern is insufficient funding and the absence of institutional mechanisms to provide sustainable support for Roma and Sinti integration into the societies in which they live. II. Enhancing access to and participation in public and political life ODIHR organized a Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM) on sustainable policies for Roma and Sinti integration on 10 and 11 July in Vienna. The meeting brought together 244 participants, including 92 representatives of 69 different non-governmental organizations. The meeting was broken down into three working sessions, covering the role and responsibility of regional and local authorities in assisting in Roma integration; examples from municipal administrations of good practices and major challenges in improving the situation of Roma at the local level; and effective policies for facilitating equal access for Roma and Sinti to public services and education. In addition to these working sessions, a roundtable for civil society on 10 July, before the start of the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting, brought together some 50 Roma civil society representatives to give NGOs the opportunity to offer recommendations for each of the three sessions. The roundtable was organized with the clear understanding that Roma representatives must be engaged as partners in the planning and implementation of integration strategies if these efforts are to be successful. One point emphasized by participants and organizers alike was that support for educational initiatives, and those for early education in particular, is crucial to fostering inclusion. Equal access to education is the first condition for increasing Roma and Sinti participation in the political, economic and social life of societies in the OSCE region, as it provides them with the opportunity to achieve equal status with the rest of the population. Specific recommendations were made for increasing access to education, and especially to early education, for Roma and Sinti children. OSCE Ministerial Council Decision 6/08, adopted in Helsinki in December, reaffirmed OSCE commitments relating to Roma and Sinti. The Decision reinforced the importance of Annual Report 2008 59