Astrid Ganterer, ODIHR Adviser on Anti-Trafficking Issues, moderates a side event entitled “Compensation of trafficked persons: Law and practice in the OSCE region”, Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, 1 October. (OSCE/Piotr Markowski) 36 ODIHR supported a number of activities to raise awareness of the rights of and provide legal assistance to exploited and vulnerable migrant workers in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also implemented projects through partners in Moldova, Poland and Azerbaijan to provide social and legal assistance to trafficked and exploited persons, including support for claims for compensation and unpaid wages. In Albania and Uzbekistan, the Office organized training seminars for professionals within the criminal justice system, including lawyers, law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges, to raise awareness of the rights of victims of trafficking, including the right to compensation. In 2009, ODIHR also published a Russian-language edition of its study on Compensation for Trafficked and Exploited Persons in the OSCE Region. ODIHR continued its efforts to assist Roma and Sinti communities as a group that is particularly vulnerable to trafficking. In Albania, through its implementing partner, a local NGO, peer educators from Roma and Sinti communities were trained to become social workers and address the needs of street children and their families. In Italy, ODIHR conducted research to analyze factors influencing the social inclusion of Roma and Sinti, with the aim of improving their social inclusion and reducing their vulnerability to exploitation in the future. Following research in a number of OSCE participating States on the return of trafficking victims to their countries of origin, ODIHR organized an expert seminar in Warsaw in June to identify practices and gaps Human Rights in human rights protection in the return of trafficked persons and to recommend ways forward. ODIHR continued to raise awareness amongst participating States of progress and challenges in antitrafficking work within the OSCE region through side events organized during the HDIM on the return of trafficking victims to their countries of origin, on compensation to victims of trafficking and on the protection of migrants’ rights. The side events attracted over 100 government and civil society representatives from throughout the OSCE region and were helpful in developing recommendations for further action. ODIHR also continued to build partnerships with a wide variety of stakeholders involved in anti-trafficking activities, including organizations and state actors specializing in migration, labour rights, victim support, asylum and refugee issues, and criminal justice. Moreover, throughout the year, ODIHR facilitated the sharing of regional expertise and encouraged cross-border cooperation amongst civil society organizations in Central Asia and the Balkans. ODIHR worked with OSCE field missions and the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings to ensure that the human dimension is adequately reflected in OSCE events, activities and policy documents concerned with human trafficking. To share expertise with and build the capacity of the OSCE antitrafficking focal points, ODIHR organized a seminar for focal points in Warsaw, in September, on outreach work, the rights of migrants, compensation of trafficking vic- ODIHR Annual Report 2009