Tolerance and Non-discrimination  •  33 ACTIVITIES The Office maintained its efforts to address hate crime and other forms of intolerance throughout the year. In addition to close partnership with participating States, ODIHR also co-operated with religious communities, civil society and international organizations. It is by strengthening all of these actors that societies can face the challenges posed by discrimination and intolerance. CIVIL SOCIETY: THE ESSENTIAL PARTNER Civil society plays a central role in promoting tolerance and supporting the victims of hate crimes. This role was underlined throughout ODIHR’s efforts in 2015. For example, civil society groups from across the OSCE region were at the centre of the Conference on Advancing Tolerance and Non-Discrimination through Coalition Building and Co-operation, held on 18 and 19 November in Vienna. This conference brought together participants from 16 participating States, enabling civil society groups to learn from each other’s experience and develop good practices in coalition building to help foster tolerance. Held in parallel with the annual meeting of government officials responsible for submitting hate crime information to ODIHR, the conference also provided a platform for discussion between civil society groups and government officials on the issue of hate crime. Ukraine The Office was active in Ukraine through 2015. Featuring workshops and events in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Vinnytsa, Lviv and Odesa. Participants in ODIHR’s activities included government officials, police officers, prosecutors, civil society groups and religious communities. As part of the “Promoting Security for Religious Communities and Others in the Regions of Ukraine” project, designed to help counter hate crime and foster freedom of religion or belief, ODIHR delivered a series of workshops designed to strengthen the Ukrainian police’s ability to identify and investigate hate crimes. Ukrainian officials also met with their Polish counterparts in Warsaw to draw lessons and share good practices based on Poland’s experiences. As part of its efforts to strengthen civil society, ODIHR also organized a number of workshops on hate crime, many of which also provided platforms for dialogue with government officials and other international organizations active in Ukraine, notably the IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). To help explain the concept of hate crime, “Understanding Hate Crimes: A Handbook for Ukraine” was published, following consultations with government officials, civil society groups and international organizations. The booklet, available in English, Ukrainian and Russian, explains the significance of hate crimes and suggests how authorities and communities can prevent and better respond to them. STRONGLY AND EFFECTIVELY COUNTERING HATE CRIME Effectively countering hate crimes remains a pillar of ODIHR’s work on tolerance and non-discrimination Participants in group work at training on hate crime for Polish civil society organizations, in Warsaw, 12 February 2015. (OSCE/Murat Gungor)