The purpose of OSCE actions on individual complaints of human rights violations is to assist governments to meet their human dimension commitments. OSCE action, even if critical of a government, is not intended to be punitive but to provide assistance. In some instances, governments in transition to democracy have long and difficult legacies of human rights violations to overcome. They may be working to end violations but may lack the legal infrastructure, resources, or trained personnel to do so effectively. In such circumstances, another option available to the OSCE is to design specific programmes to assist the government to overcome conditions that may be at the root of many individual complaints. The OSCE and its institutions have developed increasing expertise in implementing specific types of technical-assistance projects to assist ending human rights violations. The ODIHR in particular has developed a wide range of projects. If a field operation has received a number of individual complaints of the same type of human rights violation, it may be an indication of structural or training problems that could be remedied through technical assistance. In such cases, the mission could seek to design a project to assist in improving the deficiency identified. The ODIHR or another institution may be able to help in designing, implementing, and seeking funding for such projects. As examples, ODIHR projects have included providing assistance in the following areas:             Assessing the situation; Revising national legislation to conform with international human rights standards; Improving election systems; Advancing equality of women and men; Protecting the human rights of victims of trafficking; Promoting religious freedom; Training and capacity-building for NGOs involved in monitoring and redressing human rights violations; Providing human rights training for police, border guards, prosecutors, and judges; Promoting reform of prisons and other places of detention; Developing better practices for ensuring the rights of internally displaced persons; Establishing legal clinics; Developing ombudsman institutions. Projects of this nature almost always require voluntary financial contributions from governments for implementation. In the past, however, OSCE participating States have been 99 11