4.12 Centre in Bishkek The Police Matters Programme (PMP), previously in 2014 the Police Reform Programme (PRP), aims to comprehensively address law enforcement support and reform, which is a key priority for the OSCE and the host country. It is an integral part of the Unified Budget (UB) of the CiB and has increased the long-term effectiveness of the Programme. The PMP is committed to comprehensive reform at all levels of Kyrgyzstan’s law enforcement bodies, but it is primarily focused on the Ministry of Interior (MoI). Over the past ten years, the MoI has lacked action plans to implement any of the strategies to reform law enforcement bodies. This lack of political will of the host country’s authorities and the MoI’s resistance to reform resulted in a lack of transparency and accountability and in diminished trust towards the police by the public. In 2015, various political, economic, and border security and safety issues that could affect public peace and order remained challenging within the country. With these unfavourable circumstances, the CiB continued to support the Government with their police reform process and their platform for co-operation of all relevant stakeholders, including the MoI, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Parliament, civil society, and international organizations. In 2015, the Politico-Military Dimension incorporated the former Police Matters Programme. This restructuring reflects a move away from narrowly addressing police reform to a more comprehensive approach to addressing security sector governance and reform. Activities Related to General Police Development and Reform Police Development and Reform within Security Sector Reform On 24 February, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic ratified the Decision on the New Police  Performance Evaluation Criteria, which was developed with the support of OSCE experts. The new governmental decision is a significant milestone in the police reform process. It paves the way for citizens to assess and evaluate the quality of the work of the police, in order to improve the performance of the police to better respond to citizen’s needs. The CiB supported the MoI in  developing an action plan to implement the decision by the end of 2015. In this regard, the CiB assisted with the nation-wide delivery of training workshops for the senior staff of territorial units’ police management and representatives of local crime prevention centres (LCPC) on the implementation of public opinion surveys and necessary follow-ups on police managerial decisions, and on learning best international experiences from Turkey and Lithuania. 110 On 22 April, the CiB supported the MoI in organizing the National Forum on Public Safety  and Crime Prevention in Bishkek. The Forum aimed to promote co-operation between police, state and local authorities, and communities to secure public safety  through crime prevention. More than 1,000 participants, including the Prime Minister, the  head of the Presidential Administration, members of Parliament, several state  officials, and representatives of local authorities and LCPCs, took part. From 23-24 April, the CiB and the MoI organized a two-day training seminar on access to information for the MoI pressservices. Two independent national professionals conducted training for 35 staff members of the MoI press-services on relevant communication techniques, such as development of effective communication strategies when dealing with media representatives, NGOs, and the general public. From 15-30 June, the CiB, in co-operation with the MoI, organized 12 training workshops for  regional police departments on the implementation of the new Police Performance Evaluation  Criteria. More than 250 police officers were trained in all regional police departments. On 16 July, a new MoU was signed between the CiB and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic during the Police Reform