Tolerance and Non-discrimination Yad Vashem/Yossi Ben David ODIHR Director Ambassador Christian Strohal (left) and the Director of Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, Dorit Novak, present a teacher’s guide on addressing anti-Semitism, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, in December. Education to promote respect and diversity ODIHR conducted a needs assessment visit to Azerbaijan in 2007 to explore ways to assist with the implementation of programmes on human rights education and education on mutual respect and understanding. As a result, the Education Ministry agreed to co-operate with ODIHR and the Council of Europe on a capacity-building project on teacher training, as well as on curriculum and material development regarding human rights education and education to promote mutual respect and understanding. Increasing awareness about Muslims and their culture ODIHR, in co-operation with its local partners, supported the development of a resource book on Muslim communities in Spain. This involved the organization of an initial roundtable meeting in Madrid with Muslim representatives, journalists, and government officials to discuss a concept for the resource book and also the provision of technical and financial support. This project is intended to serve as a pilot project for the development of additional country-specific resource books on different aspects of Muslim life and culture with the intention of promoting a better understanding of the diversity, contribution, and participation of Muslim communities 58 Annual Report 2007 in the participating States where they constitute a minority. The books will be a resource for policy makers, public officials, journalists, and educators. They will be developed with national experts, in consultation with all relevant actors, including NGOs and media representatives. In July, ODIHR, in conjunction with Casa Árabe (Arab House), a public institution in Spain, convened a roundtable with representatives of Muslim communities in Madrid to discuss the first draft of the resource book. The purpose of the roundtable was to increase awareness of the project and to help ensure that the book is both accurate and useful to an audience of non-experts. During the HDIM, ODIHR and COJEP International, a pan-European human rights youth organization combating racism, xenophobia, and discrimination, held a side event on education and on intolerance against Muslims. The event promoted education as a means of responding to intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, and it also provided a forum for a discussion on hate incidents in schools. IV. Supporting civil society ODIHR maintains close relations with NGOs and provides support for their participation in OSCE events. For example, ODIHR organized a preparatory meeting for NGOs prior to the

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents