Training for Croatian teachers
on using ODIHR’s Teaching
Materials to Combat antiSemitism, Split, Croatia,
2 September. (Croatian
Education and Teacher
Training Agency)
44
pioneering “Law Enforcement Officer Programme on
Combating Hate Crime”, a comprehensive training initiative covering various aspects of hate crimes and police
responses to them. The training programme was also
conducted in Legionowo, Poland, in November, where
19 police officers from eight of the country’s regions
took part. The main focus of the training was to provide
the participants with theoretical knowledge and practical skills so that they can pass the information down
to front-line police officers in various follow-up training courses that are expected to be held at the regional
level.
Responding to Anti-Semitism
ODIHR works with individual governments, as well as
intergovernmental organizations and NGOs, in fighting anti-Semitism in the OSCE region. One element of
ODIHR’s approach is to combat anti-Semitism through
educational initiatives, such as the country-specific
teaching materials that ODIHR has helped develop on
historical and contemporary anti-Semitism, including
the history of the persecution of Jews in Europe.
As of May 2009, ten countries had produced country-specific versions of these materials, and 48 training
sessions for teachers had been conducted on how best
to use them in the classroom. Two countries — Lithuania and Poland — officially launched their own country
versions in 2009, while two more countries — Austria
and Sweden — began co-operation with ODIHR on the
development of similar materials.
Tolerance and Non-discrimination
ODIHR undertook a number of activities related to
this project throughout 2009. For example a three-day
meeting was held in Berlin, in May, for the respective
national experts who developed the teaching materials
in all 12 countries taking part in the project. Participants used the opportunity to exchange experiences,
share good practices, and plan strategies for the implementation of the materials. They also outlined future
possibilities for co-operation between ODIHR and the
project partners.
In the last four months of 2009, ODIHR also organized a further 14 training seminars for teachers in
Croatia, Lithuania and Ukraine. ODIHR co-operated with
Poland in organizing a seminar in March for professional teacher trainers from 16 of the country’s regions.
In addition, ODIHR provided financial support for the
printing of materials in Croatia, Lithuania and Slovakia.
A second aspect of ODIHR’s approach to combating
anti-Semitism is to engage in dialogue through international conferences or smaller workshops. In 2009, ODIHR
participated in seven conferences and meetings on
anti-Semitism issues, including the London conference
staged by the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism, a workshop organized by UNESCO,
and the twice-yearly meetings of the Task Force for
International Cooperation on Holocaust Education,
Remembrance and Research.
In March, ODIHR and the Personal Representative
of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating AntiSemitism, Rabbi Andrew Baker, organized a roundtable
meeting for civil society representatives to give them an
opportunity to report on the situation regarding anti-
ODIHR Annual Report 2009
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents