International Co-operation time, participants familiarized themselves with international experience in conducting migration regularization programmes in Canada, Italy, Spain, and the United States. The ODIHR co-operates closely with the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and participates actively in Working Table I, which deals with issues related to democratization and human rights. The ODIHR and the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces collaborated throughout 2006 on the development of a handbook on the human rights of armed forces personnel. One expert from the ODIHR and another from DCAF are drafting the handbook, which will be a reference tool on issues related to the human rights of armed forces personnel, including military personnel, as well as civilian personnel at defence ministries, parliamentarians, representatives of ombudsman institutions, military and civilian judges and lawyers, and civil society organizations and the media. The ODIHR and DCAF also organized two roundtables on the human rights of armed forces personnel that provided a forum for sharing experiences and legislation and identifying replicable practices from among the OSCE participating States. The ODIHR collaborated with two groups in 2006 on the development of educational materials. As a result of co-operation with Yad Vashem in Israel, the ODIHR developed a document called “Preparing Holocaust Memorial Days. Suggestions for Educators”, which is now available in 12 languages. The ODIHR and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam worked with national experts in seven states to develop country-specific teaching materials on anti-Semitism. In addition, the ODIHR works closely with the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Research and Remembrance, where it has permanent-observer status. 94 Annual Report  NGOs and Academic Institutions Co-operation with civil society in general and NGOs in particular is a vital part of all of the ODIHR’s democratization activities. In 2006, for example, the ODIHR co-operated with numerous NGOs and continued to support coalitions of women’s organizations and regional civil society networks in the South Caucasus and Central Asia with the aim of increasing the participation of women in democratic processes, advancing awareness on gender equality, and mobilizing national expertise to undertake necessary policy measures in this field. In order to build sustainable partnerships between national civil society experts on gender equality, the ODIHR created an NGO Expert Panel consisting of 15 NGO representatives from Central Asia and the South Caucasus. The Panel participates in an ODIHR training programme to provide national experts with the knowledge, skills, networks, and status needed to lead and/or support women’s movements and to develop, conduct, and run their respective national programmes at all levels of society. To provide national stakeholders with knowledge based on best practices and lessons learned, the ODIHR continued to engage the European Women’s Lobby, the Estonian Women’s Roundtable, and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy on issues such as increasing women’s political participation, civil society coalition-building, and co-operation with governments. In addition, the ODIHR works closely with a number of international NGOs in its gender work in order to avoid duplication of efforts, for example, with the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA CEELI), the Open Society Institute, and others. In carrying out its activities on the democratic institutional development of political parties, the ODIHR works with the Netherlands Institute for Multi-party Democracy (NIMD), which is managing an ODIHR-sponsored project jointly with

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