Participants in an ODIHR-organized training seminar on hate crimes, Warsaw, 5 September. (OSCE/Ksenia Egorova) Drawing inspiration from the resource guide “Preventing and responding to hate crimes”, participants in an ODIHR training seminar practised useful techniques for conducting workshops on combating hate crimes, Warsaw, September. (OSCE/Agnieszka Rembowska) 42 need to further train police on how to recognize and investigate hate crimes. Supporting Civil Society ODIHR works with civil society organizations throughout the OSCE region to help them gain the skills needed to prevent and respond to hate crimes. ODIHR’s support can take a variety of forms, such as the provision of training, the organization of workshops, and the publication of handbooks and other resources. In addition, ODIHR also ensures the presence of civil society groups at OSCE meetings, where they have a chance to take part in discussions with the governments of participating States and to network with organizations from other parts of the region. In 2009, two of the three ODIHR-organized Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings (SHDMs) were dedicated to subjects related to the Office’s work on tolerance and non-discrimination: hate crime (at the SHDM held in May) and freedom of religion or belief (at the July SHDM see “Promoting freedom of religion or belief” below). A number of civil society organizations attended these meetings and used the opportunity to make recommendations to participating States. In addition, representatives of civil society organizations met during the HDIM with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office’s three personal representatives to promote tolerance and combat racism, xenophobia Tolerance and Non-discrimination and discrimination.1 This provided them with an opportunity to clarify issues related to the representatives’ mandates that will be helpful when co-operating in future projects related to discrimination. In 2009, ODIHR published English- and Russian-language editions of Preventing and Responding to Hate Crimes, a resource guide for NGOs. ODIHR used this handbook as the basis for a training seminar on preventing and responding to hate crimes that it organized for 25 staff of civil society organizations from Russianspeaking countries. Held in Warsaw in September, this training seminar was aimed at preparing individuals to conduct their own training courses on hate crime in their home countries. ODIHR held a subsequent follow-up training workshop in Kyiv, in December, in co-operation with one of the NGOs represented at the original seminar. The follow-up event was attended by 21 civil society representatives from various regions of Ukraine. Reviewing Legislation Upon the request of participating States, ODIHR provides reviews of anti-discrimination and hate crime legislation, as well as of laws related to freedom of religion or belief. The purpose of these reviews is to help 1 The Personal Representative on Combating anti-Semitism, the Personal Representative on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims, and the Personal Representative on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions. ODIHR Annual Report 2009