Tolerance & Non-discrimination Nataliya Dryomina-Voloc (l), from the National Academy of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, and Maia Kvirikashvili, from the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, discuss a case study during a pilot training session for prosecutors, organized by ODIHR, on the effective prosecution of hate crime cases, Warsaw, 5 July 2012. (OSCE/Shiv Sharma) Activities II II ODIHR supports participating States and civil society to effectively respond to hate crime, to protect and promote freedom of religion or belief and to promote mutual respect and understanding. ODIHR has developed a comprehensive approach to combating hate crime. Its programmes are designed to build the capacity of law enforcement agencies, government officials and civil society to combat hate crimes and to raise awareness through educational programmes. In line with its mandate, ODIHR’s activities also include monitoring, collecting and the dissemination of information on hate crimes and good practices designed to address them. In 2012, activities were conducted in the following fields: II Collecting and disseminating information about hate crime; II II II II II II Awareness raising; Reviewing legislation; Supporting law enforcement agencies; Supporting civil society; Responding to intolerance against Muslims; Responding to anti-Semitism; Raising awareness about intolerance against Christians; and Promoting freedom of religion or belief. Collecting and Disseminating Information about Hate Crime Despite the increased efforts of participating States to combat hate crime, the lack of reliable information on numbers and types of hate crimes, targeted victim groups and perpetrators continues to be a challenge in effectively responding to hate crime across the OSCE region. Efficient government responses can be formulated only with detailed and reliable data on perpetrators and victims and on the extent and type of crimes being committed. To help address this dearth of information, ODIHR continues to be a collection point for hate crime data in the OSCE region. As in previous years, ODIHR published the annual report on hate crime, the Office’s main activity in this area. The report published in 2012 demonstrated, once again, that there are significant disparities in data collection among most participating States. Information submitted to ODIHR over the cumulative period of 2008-2011, indicated that 50 participating States collect some data on hate crimes. However, only 25 participating States submitted data on hate crimes committed in their jurisdictions. The report’s recommendations emphasize the need to identify hate crimes, record, investigate and prosecute them, and ODIHR Annual Report 2012 55