4.10 Office in Yerevan Background The OSCE Office in Yerevan provides long-term support to the Armenian Police in developing democratic policing practices and implementing reform programmes. The overall aim of the Republic of Armenia (RA) Police Reform Programme is to increase trust and confidence in the police. Continuity and sustainability in developing democratic policing practices and supporting the Government’s Police Reform Programme remain the main priorities of the Office in the field of police assistance. The need for further police reforms has been accepted by the Government and the OSCE has been identified as the main partner along the lines of what the Office has been advocating and implementing since the beginning of its Police Assistance Programme. The Government’s Police Reform Implementation Programmes 2010-2011 and 2013-2014 are strongly supported by the Office, focusing on establishing trust and co-operation between the police and population through community-based policing, police education reform, co-operation of the police with media, local authorities and civil society, as well as Public Order Management. The Government’s Police Reform Programme 2013-2014 is aimed at transforming the police into a modern, accountable service with the primary goal of serving people, and it provides clear strategic direction to introduce community policing within the entire organization. As a result, in 2013, Community Policing became a nation-wide model and was introduced in all regions of Armenia. Reforms in the field of Police Education and Trainings remained one of the main priorities of the Office within the overall reform process. A series of activities were organized to support build the capacity of the Police Educational Complex staff. Within its assistance to police reform the Office continued promoting Gender issues in the police, and deepened its co-operation with the police in the field of Police Accountability and Integrity. Police Reform On 26-27 November, an International Conference on Police Reforms took place in Yerevan. The Conference was organized by the Office together with the TNTD/SPMU, the Armenian Police and DCAF. The event provided a platform for participants to learn from the experience of other countries, to discuss their achievements and challenges faced during the reform process, as well as to exchange ideas for further improvements in the field of policing. The Conference brought together 60 high-level representatives from the Armenian police, National Assembly, state institutions, civil society and international experts from Georgia and Estonia. Additionally, the conference was attended by a delegation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic. Police Integrity On 31 October, the Office, jointly with the Armenian Police and DCAF, organized a roundtable on police reforms, the fight against corruption and building integrity and accountability in policing. The aim of the roundtable was to share international practices related to police reforms as well as police integrity with the Armenian counterparts. Participants were introduced to the Toolkit on Police Integrity which was developed by DCAF and translated into the Armenian language, and published with support of the Office. The Toolkit focuses on the organizational impact of police corruption as well as on values and ethics in police services. 120