4.4 The OSCE Mission to Serbia Background The OSCE Mission to Serbia and its Law Enforcement Department (LED) assist Serbia in reforming its police service to ensure effective law enforcement and to institutionalize processes that underpin democratic policing. As Serbia further integrates into European structures, the police service has continued to advance, increasing its level of professionalism and accountability. The co-operation with the Serbian Government is based on the strategic framework document – a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed between the Mission and the MoI in 2009. The MoU defines the following priority areas: Police Accountability; Police Training and Education; Organized Crime; Community Policing; Strategic Planning and Development; and Public Relations and Communication. In 2011, key areas of the Mission’s activities were in line with the main MoI strategic areas defined in the overall MoI Development Strategy 2011-2016: organization and management; safety of the individual; the community and the state; partnership at the national, regional and international levels; and internal and external oversight systems and operational transparency. In 2011, the LED was comprised of 19 international and 24 national staff. It had six international and six national staff deployed to field locations: the OSCE Advanced Police Training Centre in Zemun; and the Basic Police Training Centre in Sremska Kamenica. Strategic Planning and Development In 2011, the LED continued to deliver advice and assistance to the MoI related to the development of strategic planning and management. This effort was to a large extent based on a top-down approach, primarily from the MoI’s Cabinet, State Secretariat, and Division for Finance, Human Resources and Common Affairs. The key strategic document, the overall MoI Development Strategy 2011-2016 finalized in December 2010, is a milestone document for police reform covering all areas of policing and internal organization. The LED supported the process of drafting this document in 2010. The Strategy incorporates the LED’s recommendations, inputs from the Department-supported NGO research, and the results of public debates. In 2011, the LED supported the MoI in developing the operational action plans for the implementation of the Strategy and supported the Ministry’s efforts in addressing the need for efficient and effective implementation of the Strategy goals. In February 2011, the LED organized a study visit for the Head and staff of the MoI’s Department for Management of EU-Funded Projects to the Croatian Ministry of Interior. The Serbian MoI, supported by the Mission with policy advice, created this MoI Department in 2010 tasked to develop, facilitate and coordinate EU-funded, but also bilateral or multilateral projects that bring the Ministry and the police in line with EU accession criteria and international best practices. During the study visit, representatives of this newly established Department were introduced with the tools and methods for performance improvements and skills necessary to increase the awareness of their colleagues throughout the Ministry and the police service on reform projects. The project “Human Resource Gap Analysis in the Ministry of Interior, Serbia” funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by the LED, was completed on 20 May 2011. The final outcome of the project is the Report on Human Resources, which was an analysis of the existing gaps between the practice, the legal and regulatory framework of 58