ODIHR Director Janez Lenarcˇicˇ and Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin of the Moscow Patriarchate, member of the OSCE/ODIHR Advisory Council on Freedom of Religion or Belief, at a meeting on intolerance and discrimination against Christians. Vienna, 4 March. (OSCE/Susanna Lööf) 46 of issues, participants also made recommendations aimed at protecting freedom of religion or belief. They stressed, for example, that there should not be any obstacles that prevent religious or belief communities from enjoying their right to places of worship. The Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) is another important forum for the discussion of religious freedom issues. In addition to the official session on this issue, the Advisory Council held a side event at the 2009 HDIM that included an informal and open discussion of many of the main issues related to freedom of religion or belief in the OSCE area. Participants benefited from the Advisory Council’s expertise, while members of the Advisory Council gained a deeper understanding of the themes and issues discussed by the main actors in the field. Intolerance against Christians In March, ODIHR held the first-ever OSCE roundtable on intolerance and discrimination against Christians. The event provided a forum for discussion of the nature and scope of manifestations of intolerance against Christians in the OSCE area. Participants, including experts and researchers, representatives of civil society, religious communities and representatives of international organizations, also identified initiatives and tools that could be developed in the fight against this phenomenon, including improving the collection of data on the desecration of Christian cemeteries and places of worship. Tolerance and Non-discrimination Intolerance against Muslims In April, ODIHR published a reference guide on Muslims in Spain, which was developed in partnership with Casa Árabe, a consortium created with funding from Spain’s Foreign Ministry, the Spanish Agency for International Co-operation, the Autonomous Communities of Madrid and Andalucia, and the city councils of Madrid and Cordoba. The guide aims to raise awareness about antiMuslim prejudice and stereotypes. ODIHR also began work on guidelines for educators on how to address intolerance and discrimination against Muslims. The purpose of this project is to assist educators in identifying stereotypes and prejudices against Muslims and to provide guidance on how to confront them in schools. It will be possible to customize the guidelines to meet the needs of each participating State. Throughout the year, ODIHR collected information on educational practices and initiatives dealing with intolerance and discrimination against Muslims. The information, which was submitted by NGOs, educational institutions, international organizations, individual governments and OSCE field operations, was published on ODIHR’s TANDIS website (http://tandis.odihr.pl). ODIHR Annual Report 2009

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