Human Rights the OSCE Secretariat’s Action against Terrorism Unit, and the Spanish Chairmanship in the meeting, which highlighted the importance of increasing the international solidarity of civil society and strengthening partnerships and cooperation with the OSCE and ODIHR. Participants agreed on a set of recommendations for OSCE participating States, ODIHR, and civil society. Solidarity with victims of terrorism A high-level meeting on victims of terrorism was jointly organized by the Chairman-inOffice and ODIHR in September in Vienna. The meeting brought together more than 200 representatives from participating States, civil society groups (including victims’ associations), and legal professionals from across the OSCE region and provided an opportunity to discuss how to define victims of terrorism for the purposes of domestic policy-making, victim assistance programmes, victims’ role and status in legal proceedings, and how governmental and non-governmental agencies could best work together in providing practical support to victims of terrorism. II. Human rights training and education Human rights education and training are undertaken to equip members of government institutions and of civil society with the experience and skills necessary to have the greatest possible impact in their communities. The need to improve skills also extends to OSCE staff, especially when working in field missions. In 2007, ODIHR began working with the Council of Europe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and UNESCO, with the support of Human Rights Education Associates, to produce a compendium of good practices in human rights education in school systems, including citizenship education and education for mutual respect and understanding. The compendium will consist of entries that correspond to the plan of action of the UN’s World Programme for Human Rights Education: policies and curricula, the learning 44 Annual Report 2007 environment, teaching and learning practices and tools, professional development of teachers and other educational personnel, and evaluation and assessment approaches and tools. Over the last two years, ODIHR, in conjunction with NGO partners, has trained representatives from civil society from various regions of Armenia and Tajikistan to work in human rights. The aim of the training was both to equip new activists with knowledge and skills related to human rights and to build the capacity of existing groups. Participants not only acquired knowledge in the field of human rights but also had the opportunity to practise their skills by undertaking human rights monitoring and advocacy. Issues addressed included the rights of disabled persons, human rights in the armed forces, monitoring incidents of violence in schools, informal payments in schools, women’s rights, freedom of the media, and the violent treatment of pupils by teachers. ODIHR’s training emphasized advocacy work, with the objective of achieving systemic change to address human rights violations. ODIHR continued in 2007 to offer a course for OSCE field staff working in the various areas of the human dimension of security. Apart from thematic sessions covering human rights monitoring, human rights in the fight against terrorism, rule of law, anti-trafficking, Roma and Sinti issues, democratic governance, legislative assistance, gender mainstreaming, elections, and national minorities, the course also provides a unique opportunity for OSCE staff to exchange experiences and best practices. More than 100 OSCE staff from all field operations, the Secretariat, and institutions attended four courses in Warsaw. III. Human rights and the armed forces Following consultations with governments, experts, and non-governmental organizations, ODIHR is finalizing a handbook on human rights and fundamental freedoms of armed forces personnel, which will be published jointly with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces in 2008. The handbook provides