6  : :  OVERVIEW In 2018, the challenges to democracy and to OSCE human dimension commitments have continued, as well as the downwards trend of public trust in democracy and democratic institutions, with weakening representation and unequal political participation. The operational environment of ODIHR, itself, also became more challenging, due to issues related to interpreting the rules applicable to the participation of civil society in human dimension events, including the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), our major annual meeting. This affected planning and preparation for these events, as well as leading to the non-participation of one participating State in HDIM in September. On a positive note, in Milan in December, the OSCE Ministerial Council adopted new commitments in the human dimension, notably on preventing and combating violence against women, including domestic violence, and another on countering child trafficking. Throughout the year, we have emphasized our supporting role. The Office is at the disposal of participating States to support and assist them with implementing their OSCE human dimension commitments in all their variety. We reach out to governments, institutions, national parliaments and civil society and offer our co-operation and the tools we have developed based on commitments and our mandate. The aim is to achieve results that benefit the people in the region, which is why we strive to develop tools that are practical and user friendly, whether publications or training courses. Nowhere is ODIHR’s importance as obvious as in our election observation. In 2018, we deployed election observation activities in 16 countries, four of which were related to unplanned or early elections. In total 2,937 election observers from 53 states took part, demonstrating the overall broad and deep commitment by participating States to actively support this important part of the human dimension. ODIHR reports and recommendations continue to serve as roadmaps for improving electoral systems and the number of participating States engaging in meaningful electoral follow-up continues to increase. In 2018, ODIHR provided in-country technical expertise to state institutions, political parties and civil society in 18 participating States. Tangible positive outcomes of this engagement include enhanced legal regulations, greater focus on the inclusivity of elections, improved voter registers and better technical capabilities of election management bodies. ODIHR held the first ever meeting of national focal points for elections, using the occasion to reiterate the emphasis on having a professional environment on election missions. We have also witnessed intimidation and attacks against critical voices, shrinking space for human rights defenders to have their voices heard and growing abuse of the freedom of expression to promote intolerance and hate on the basis of religion, as well as against vulnerable groups such as migrants, people of color and Roma and Sinti. On the inclusion of Roma and Sinti communities throughout the OSCE region, there has been little progress, while the commitments are clear. The Third Status Report on the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti, issued in December, will guide upcoming efforts to support their public and political participation. Too often, what begins with discrimination and intolerant discourse can escalate into violence and wider scale conflict. Our data demonstrates variations in how hate crime affects communities. We launched a new programme, the Information Against Hate Crimes Toolkit (INFAHCT), to strengthen government collection and management of this data. We also published a toolkit outlining a comprehensive approach to countering hate crimes, ranging from methods to improve co-operation between police and prosecutors, to measures to detect under-reporting of hate crimes among minority populations. These new programmes have resulted in an increased demand for ODIHR’s assistance. ODIHR has also taken steps to ensure that intolerance is addressed before it degenerates into hate crime, with many efforts promoting tolerance in education. Thus, ODIHR published educational policy guidelines on anti-Semitism with UNESCO in 2018. We also began training workshops with civil society to assist them in forming coalitions to address intolerance and discrimination and introduced a new, user-friendly publication on this matter. As a result, our Office is strengthening the role played by these essential partners to tackle intolerance. Some states invoke security concerns as they impose restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms. The “choice” between human rights and