Democratization national institutions mandated to promote the equality of rights and opportunities among women and men. ODIHR assistance includes support for capacity-building to help government bodies develop gender-sensitive policies and gender-budgeting. In Armenia, ODIHR continued to provide assistance in promoting education on gender-equality issues. From April to November 2008, in co-operation with the Armenian Association of Women with University Education (AAWUE), ODIHR intensified dialogue with the Ministry of Education and, in particular, with its Institute of Education. This dialogue resulted in the development of recommendations for the integration of gender equality aspects into the civic education curriculum in high-schools and for the improvement of training modules for teachers and secondary school teaching materials from the point of view of gender equality. The curriculum and textbook developed by the ASWUE, Introduction to Gender Equality, still to be approved by the Ministry at the end of 2008, and is expected to be offered as an elective subject in schools across Armenia in 2009. ODIHR also provided expertise for the development of legislative initiatives on gender equality issues in the OSCE region, including in Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. Combating domestic violence In many parts of the OSCE region, state authorities often lack the political will, necessary expertise and capacity to prevent or prosecute cases of domestic violence. This is particularly the case in those countries where domestic violence is traditionally viewed as a private issue, and where no legal measures exist for prosecuting perpetrators and protecting victims. ODIHR’s approach in this work is based on three key areas: sensitizing law enforcement agencies towards the issue as a crime; building the capacity of law enforcement authorities to play an effective role in preventing and combating domestic violence; and promoting cooperation between law enforcement bodies and NGOs on strategies and measures to prevent and combat this crime. In Armenia, in partnership with the Women’s Rights Centre, a local NGO, ODIHR supported the development of legislation to prevent and combat domestic violence. The draft law, produced through series of consultations with local experts, was in the process of being finalized at the end of 2008, and was to go to parliament for further discussion in spring 2009. In Azerbaijan, ODIHR continued to support the training of regional police in methods for preventing and prosecuting cases of domestic violence. ODIHR also assisted in the development and piloting of the first course on preventing and combating domestic violence for some 200 police cadets and serving officers at the Police Academy, in Baku. As a result of the pilot course, training on the role of police in preventing and combating domestic violence has been made fully sustainable through its integration into the official teaching curricula of the Academy. In Ukraine, in order to raise awareness about domestic violence and to develop practical skills in preventing and combating these crimes, ODIHR worked with representatives of police departments and other law-enforcement structures in the pilot regions of Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhya and Kirovohrad to develop locally tailored activities and programmes. In October, ODIHR also organized a high-level meeting of law-enforcement officials from Ukraine and Georgia in Vienna, Austria, to exchange expertise and best practices with the Austrian Federal Police on the development of domestic violence curricula for law-enforcement agencies. Annual Report 2008 33