u States should examine concrete follow-up to this in preparation for the Ministerial Council in Madrid in 2007. III. Major progress has been made in the conduct of elections in South-Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and the Baltic States. The experience made over the past decade highlights that the conduct of democratic elections can only be established and maintained through a genuine political commitment. The ultimate responsibility in this regard lies with participating States. As the OSCE’s main institution in the human dimension, the ODIHR is ready to do its part to further improve its operational activities and performance in accordance with its mandate. As in any other area the ODIHR engages in, this is also the case with regard to our election-related activities. A number of steps have already been taken. Considering the questions posed and suggestions made, and following consultations with OSCE States, the ODIHR presents, in Chapter III, a package of measures to further enhance its election-related activities, and makes concrete proposals for furthering the effectiveness of its assistance in this regard. Specifically, the ODIHR will: u Make follow-up mechanisms more effective; u Improve the delivery of the observation methodology; u Further diversify participation of observers/experts for EOMs; u Develop the “geographical scope” of its election activities; u Increase the transparency of recruitment; u Establish a practitioners network among ODIHR election observation experts; u Develop public outreach and training support; u Develop a stronger capacity on the use of information technology and on the observation of electronic voting; u Enhance linguistic inclusiveness to allow equal and full participation of observers from throughout the OSCE region; u Enhance ODIHR-wide coherence, broadening the context of election observation and assistance for overall democratization activities; u Further enhance co-operation with parliamentary observers; u Share expertise with other regions and organizations. In order to achieve concrete results in these areas, continued co-operation with, and support by, OSCE States is key, including the provision of the necessary human and financial resources. IV. One of the conclusions of Chapter IV, which deals with ways to strengthen the ODIHR’s assistance efforts, is that States should enable the ODIHR, as well as the other institutions, to be effective. Three steps should be taken in this regard: first, States should display the necessary political will to prepare the ground for effective assistance work; second, States should Common Responsibility: Commitments and Implementation 79