Combating Hate Crime In 2012, ODIHR’s Training against Hate Crime for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme 38 was delivered in four participating States. This unique programme aims to improve police skills in recognizing, understanding and investigating hate crimes; to interact effectively with victim communities and to build public confidence and co-operation with law enforcement agencies. Following the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding in Bulgaria to implement the TAHCLE programme, ODIHR worked with the inter-governmental working group to customize the curriculum. In March, ODIHR trained 47 investigators in Bulgaria on how to recognize and investigate hate crime. Participants were also provided with an overview of applicable legislation in Bulgaria. ODIHR also trained 60 police officers from Croatia, Poland and Hungary. Police officers evaluated the training events as effective, informative and interactive. After ODIHR signed a Memorandum of Understanding to train law enforcement in Ukraine, ODIHR conducted a needs assessment visit to Kyiv to determine the extent and nature of hate crimes; understand the current police response to hate crime; and identify policing structures and approach to police training. ODIHR was working with Ukrainian officials to customize the training curriculum and deliver the training seminars to law enforcement officials in 2013. ODIHR presented TAHCLE at the annual meeting of the Association of European Police Colleges (AEPC) attended by senior representatives from across Europe. Following the presentation, the AEPC invited ODIHR to facilitate a training seminar for representatives of its police college members in 2013. To foster the exchange of good practices, ODIHR attended an event that gathered 15 law enforcement officials from Poland and Germany in Berlin on 27 February. Representatives from the Polish police presented their experience with ODIHR's hate crime training and the mechanism put in place to improve investigation of hate-motivated incidents. Combating Domestic Violence In 2012, ODIHR continued to provide support to OSCE participating States in developing legal frameworks to prevent and combat violence against women, including domestic violence, in line with international standards and good practice. On 23-24 January, ODIHR contributed to a conference organized by UN Women on the “Enforcement of Domestic Violence Legislation”, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Office also implemented awareness-raising activities on relevant international frameworks, organizing a side event in the margins of the “2012 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM)” 39 on 29 September in Warsaw. The event, organized in cooperation with the CoE, UN Women, and the OSCE Gender Section, highlighted the importance of improved co-operation among international organizations, as well as the need for enhanced co-operation between national institutions, including government officials, law enforcement, and civil society. Furthermore, ODIHR continued to update its database of experts from government institutions, law enforcement and civil society, to support OSCE field operations in the implementation of their activities to combat domestic violence. 38 39 152 OSCE/ODIHR Brochure on TAHCLE, 2012, http://www.osce.org/odihr/94898 http://www.osce.org/hdim_2012