upon their request and in close consultation and co-ordination with UNODC, with assistance/advice on anti-drug issues, inter alia, through awareness-raising activities, the organization of regional workshops and facilitation of training. The Decision on Combating Sexual Exploitation of Children adopted by the 14th Ministerial Council of the OSCE (Brussels 2006) encouraged relevant OSCE executive structures, within their existing mandates, to devote attention to the area of sexual exploitation of children, including links to trafficking in persons, and emphasized the need for them and the participating States to co-operate with other international organizations, NGOs and civil society in combating the sexual exploitation of children. The 14th Ministerial Council of the OSCE (Brussels 2006) adopted the follow-up Decision on Organized Crime, reaffirming the importance that the OSCE was giving to this subject. The Decision’s tasking to the OSCE Secretary General and the relevant OSCE executive structures, within their respective mandates, included giving enhanced attention to the key role of criminal justice systems in institution-building and in the promotion of the rule of law, as well as cooperating and co-ordinating more closely in order to take better into account the interaction between the components of those systems. A further major task was to build on and consolidate the knowledge and experience on criminal justice and organized crime, and to continue cooperating with UNODC in matters including combating organized crime and illicit drugs. Recalling the Ministerial Council Decisions Nos. 3/05 (Ljubljana) on combating transnational organized crime, and 5/06 (Brussels) on organized crime, Permanent Council Decision No. 810 (2007) on Implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime tasked the Secretary General to support the implementation of the UNTOC convention in co-operation with UNODC, and to organize a workshop in co-operation and co-ordination with the Secretariat of the Conference of the Parties to the UNTOC. Permanent Council Decision No. 813 (2007) on Combating the Threat of Illicit Drugs and Precursors emphasized the continuing spread of illicit trafficking of opiates from Afghanistan and chemical precursors throughout the OSCE area. The Permanent Council called on the Secretary General to further develop co-operation in the field of anti-drug matters with UNODC, the Paris Pact and other relevant international structures and organizations by, inter alia, organizing joint regional and sub-regional workshops and other activities. Furthermore, the Secretary General was tasked with continuing training activities on drug-related matters. The need for continuing training of Afghan police officers in addition to providing assistance to Afghanistan in the fields of border security and combating drug trafficking was also a core topic of the Ministerial Decision No. 4/07 on OSCE Engagement with Afghanistan (Madrid). Participating States tasked the Secretary General to provide support for intensifying the involvement of Afghan counterparts in OSCE activities related to the fields of border security and management, policing and the fight against drug trafficking, and those in the training facilities in Central Asia and in the rest of the OSCE area. While tasked to avoid unnecessary duplication of existing efforts of other international actors, the Secretary General was also mandated to explore all possible cooperation options, in co-ordination with the United Nations and other relevant regional and international organizations and other actors. At the Helsinki Ministerial Council in December 2008, the participating States turned their attention once again to the issue of Trafficking in Human Beings. Decision No. 5/08 on Enhancing Criminal Justice Responses to Trafficking in Human Beings Through a Comprehensive Approach emphasized the need for training on combating trafficking in human beings for law enforcement personnel and urged the participating States inter alia to ensure co-operation between law enforcement agencies and other relevant actors at the national and international level, and “to intensify measures to disrupt trafficking networks, including by means of financial investigations, investigations of money laundering connected to human trafficking and the freezing and confiscation of the assets of human traffickers”. Reaffirming the participating States’ commitment to proactively implement the OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality and recalling Ljubljana Ministerial Council Decisions on 162