Democratization Thematic Areas of Work k Rule of law: The ODIHR is engaged in a broad range of technical-assistance projects designed to foster the rule of law. Through its programmes in the areas of criminal-justice reform and fair trials, the ODIHR provides practical assistance and training, for example, to lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and government officials, as well as to civil society. k Democratic governance: The ODIHR takes a comprehensive approach to strengthening democratic practices, targeting both government institutions and civil society. The Office’s strategy is to work with institutions of governance, political parties, and parliaments, as well as to assist civil society in making contributions to policy-making. The ODIHR also encourages transparent and inclusive legislative processes that enable all relevant stakeholders to provide input. k Gender equality: To promote gender equality, the ODIHR carries out targeted programmes and integrates gender aspects into all its work. Current programmes concentrate on three key areas: developing women’s leadership and increasing the role of women in decision-mak- ing; fostering government/civil society co-operation to promote gender equality; and building local gender expertise and networks. k Migration and freedom of movement: To promote freedom of movement and enhance respect for the rights of migrants, the ODIHR facilitates regional and sub-regional co-operation and exchanges of experience between the OSCE participating States, assists in the introduction of population registration systems that are in line with international standards, and raises awareness on migration issues among policy makers and the public in OSCE participating States. k Legislative support: The ODIHR provides legislative assistance to participating States, usually taking the form of a review of draft legislation to ensure compliance with international standards, particularly OSCE commitments. The Office also maintains a free-of-charge online database (www.legislationline.org) that contains more than 5,000 pieces of domestic and international legislation related to the human dimension, such as human rights, elections, gender, and rule of law. This has become an important source for lawmakers throughout the region. In addition to its programmatic work, the ODIHR organized a number of mandated meetings in 2005 dealing with various democratization-related issues: the Human Dimension Seminar on Migration and Integration; the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on the Role of Defence Lawyers in Guaranteeing a Fair Trial, which was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, and was the first SHDM ever to take place outside of Vienna; and the special day on torture prevention during the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in September. The ODIHR’s democratization work also facilitates co-operation and information exchanges among different partners within the Organization, making lessons learned from its ten years of institution-building work in South-Eastern Europe available to a wider range of partners. One such example was the ODIHR-organized Inter-Mission Trial Observation Meeting, which was held in Sarajevo and brought together OSCE field operations from South-Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova to discuss ongoing trial-monitoring activities and best practices. The six-monthly regional co-operation meetings of directors of Democratization Departments from field operations in South-Eastern Europe also serve to co-ordinate this process and ensure an appropriate focus for the ODIHR’s assistance and support. ANNUAL REPORT 2005 21