DEMOCRATIZATION Participants at a course for young policy advisers, in Sandö, Sweden, 30 October. Folke Bernadotte Academy/ Lora Remacka related to the legal framework for political financing, spending and contribution limits, and campaign finance oversight. On the regional level, ODIHR’s 2014 Political Party Expert Seminar, held on 1 and 2 July in Warsaw, gathered more than 50 experts from 21 OSCE participating States. The seminar discussed OSCE commitments and challenges faced by parties and their regulators, including issues of internal party democracy, functioning of parties in politically polarized environments and the abuse of state resources. Participants from Kosovo also attended. On 16 and 17 September in Warsaw, ODIHR hosted a study visit for the Anti-Corruption Agency of Serbia on the issue of political party regulation, aiming to support Serbia’s efforts in implementing its legislation on financing political parties. Youth Participation in Political and Public life Across the OSCE region, there is declining participation and trust by young people in democratic institutions. In response to challenges faced by OSCE participating States to include young people in decision-making, ODIHR continued to act as a knowledge hub of good practices on youth participation in the OSCE region, by supporting regional events in South-East Europe and Central Asia. ODIHR also hosted a side event on youth political participation on the margins of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, organized in co-operation with the Swiss Chairperson-in-Office on 23 September in Warsaw. In 2014, ODIHR implemented the project “Promoting and increasing youth political participation and civic engagement in the OSCE region”, bringing together more than 80 young leaders from 37 OSCE participating States during two youth leadership forums. Activists and bloggers, media representatives, civil society, government and party representatives, reflected on evolving patterns in youth political participation. Participants agreed on a set of recommendations to overcome existing challenges and to utilize new technologies in democratic processes. The forums were held on 16 and 17 June and on 13 and 14 November in Warsaw. With the aim of increasing the capacities of young policy professionals, a “Policy Advisers Course for Eastern Partners” was organized for 25 young people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine from 27 to 31 October in Sandö, Sweden, in co-operation with the Folke Bernadotte Academy and the Central European University’s School for Public Policy. The course provided policy advisers with an opportunity to gain practical analytical, policymaking, reporting and negotiating skills, while also ensuring that gender aspects are considered in democratic institutions and policymaking. ODIHR Annual Report 2014 37