should directly support monitoring of the implementation of Ministry strategies and thus enhance the strategic management practices. In order to enhance the participation and visibility of women at all levels in the police service, the Mission hosted the third informal “Gender and Security Sector Reform (SSR) Coordination Meeting” on 21 June. The meeting gathered relevant stakeholders from the international community working on gender issues, such as those supporting the Women Police Officers Network in Southeast Europe, but also other SSR reform projects, in order to gather information about ongoing activities and to discuss concrete possibilities for cooperation and achieving synergies. Representatives of DCAF, ODIHR, the Swedish Government, UNDP/SEESAC, and UN Women attended the meeting. Recognizing the importance of information exchange and co-ordination among donors, and in continuation of a dialogue with all international stakeholders active in the SSR, the Mission hosted an informal international stakeholder meeting on police reform on 26 June. Mission experts provided a general overview of recent developments in the police reform process as well as updates on the ongoing and planned projects. The meeting gathered representatives of the European Commission, the CoE, the Governments of Austria, Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, the USA, as well as representatives of DCAF, the IOM, UNDP/SEESAC and UN Habitat. All participants thanked the Mission for keeping the dialogue active and were looking forward to the next meeting announced for the last quarter of 2012. Following the closure of its Strategic Planning Unit at the end of 2012, the Mission planned to continue monitoring the implementation of adopted strategies through other thematic areas of its engagement. Accountability Throughout 2012, the Mission advocated the timely and proportionate use of existing oversight mechanisms in order to improve accountability. The Mission’s Rule of Law and Human Rights Department (RoLHRD) supported an open dialogue between the Serbian National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) for the prevention of torture as well as the Police Directorate with the aim of preventing ill-treatment of those in police detention. In its support to the NPM, the RoLHRD facilitated a series of round tables in Belgrade (Oct-Nov 2012), which brought together more than 70 representatives of the NPM and the Police Directorates from across Serbia. The purpose of the meetings was to create an open dialogue between the NPM and the heads of Police Directorates, to present findings of the NPM related to the conditions in the police detention facilities, and to find ways for preventing possible cases of torture in police custody. The NPM had visited more than 28 police stations in 2012, focusing on the conditions in the detention units, and prepared its first report with recommendations for possible improvements. With the aim of standardizing practices and policies regulating police custody, the Mission supported the MoI in developing a by-law, which would provide assurances that pretrial custody practices will be applied in line with international human rights standards. The aim of the document is to protect the human rights of detainees and to ensure a safer environment for officers assigned to this duty. Following extensive consultations with regional police districts, round tables with NGOs and the Ombudsman’s Office, and internal discussions within the working group tasked by the MoI to complete this project, the Mission facilitated a two-day working session for members of the Ministry to finalize the document before it was submitted for approval. The session was held on 26-27 November. The purpose of the event was to clarify some of the issues that remained unresolved after the feedback and inputs on the document were collected from all police districts across Serbia; and to finalize the instructions manual and accompanying intake forms. The final product, 76