Democratization capacity to advance women’s political participation and foster policy measures for equality of rights and opportunities among women and men. Throughout 2007, ODIHR provided expert assistance to the Coalition to reform its internal working structure and continued to assist in the process of registering the coalition as a legal entity with the participation of all of its currently active members. In addition, ODIHR conducted several workshops for the Coalition on strategies for developing public information/ media campaigns on gender equality. Increasing women’s political participation and access to decision-making ODIHR focuses on the development of sustainable strategies for strengthening women’s leadership and co-operation between civil society and government in promoting gender equality. By supporting co-operation between civil society representatives and elected officials at the national and local levels, ODIHR aims to enhance advocacy and other mechanisms for increased access and participation of women in policy-making processes. Similar initiatives are also being designed to foster increased interaction among civil society and political parties in order to promote opportunities for women’s advancement within political party structures and in government. In Armenia, for example, ODIHR provided expertise and financial assistance to the Association of Armenian Women with University Education to conduct a series of training workshops on political and civil rights, public participation, political party development, and electoral issues OSCE Azeri police officers discuss domestic violence at a training course at the police academy in Baku. 30 Annual Report 2007 for women members of political parties and active members of civil society organizations in order to increase women’s political participation in the parliamentary elections in May. Programme activities, conducted by the Association in conjunction with experts from the Armenian National Assembly and leading political parties, served to provide opportunities for information-sharing and dialogue among women members of various political parties, as well as with women who are active in civil society. In addition, training seminars were organized for women from various political parties on political campaigning and programme development methodologies, as well as on existing international commitments and standards in promoting democratic electoral practices and women’s participation in political processes. In Kyrgyzstan, ODIHR provided expertise and technical assistance to its main civil society partner, the Agency for Social Technologies, and to the Regional Women’s Network in developing a multifaceted lobbying campaign to support women’s political participation. Activities focused, in particular, on awareness-raising among current members of parliament on the importance of special electoral measures for increasing women’s political participation and engaging with legislators in a direct dialogue on including such measures in the Election Code. As a direct result of this activity, the draft law on amendments to the Election Code includes specific provisions that ensure equal representation of women and men on political party lists. In addition, strategically designed media campaign activities, including special actions outside Parliament, participation in parliamentary hearings, press conferences, meetings with members of parliament, and effective media outreach, successfully prevented legislative changes that would have legalized polygamy in Kyrgyzstan. Combating domestic violence In many parts of the OSCE region, state authorities often lack the necessary expertise, capacity, or political will to prevent and prosecute cases of domestic violence. This situation is