SOUTH CAUCASUS 4.9 Project Co-ordinator in Baku Background New Year’s Day 2014 marked a new beginning for the OSCE in Baku as it transformed into the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Baku (PCiB). The PCiB’s mandate includes supporting cooperation between the Government of Azerbaijan and the OSCE toward upholding Azerbaijan’s OSCE commitments; planning and implementing projects that cover all three aspects of OSCE’s comprehensive security concept; and maintaining contacts with governmental and non-governmental bodies, local authorities, universities and research institutions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan (MFA) approved the “Combating Human Trafficking” project in June 2014 and the PCiB Politico – Military Unit (PMU) immediately started its implementation. This cross-dimensional project was transferred to the Economic – Environmental Unit on 1 December 2014. The projects “Institutional Support and Capacity Building of the National Bomb Data Centre” and “Preventing and Countering Cybercrime in Azerbaijan” were approved by the MFA in October 2014. Their implementation started on 1 December 2014. Combating Human Trafficking On 30 June, PMU NPO organized the first meeting among international and national organizations involved in countering human trafficking to create a platform for co-ordination of activities in the field and discuss ways to leverage the organizations’ combined resources. From 22-26 September, the PCiB, in co-operation with the Ministry of Interior of Hungary, organized a five-day visit to Hungary to study good practices for identification and prosecution of trafficking and assistance and referral mechanisms for trafficking victims. During the visit, high-level Azerbaijani Government officials and civil society organizations held meetings in various public agencies and civil society organizations of Hungary. On 20 November, the PCiB and USAID signed a declaration to co-operate on and support the combating of human trafficking in Azerbaijan. Under the declaration, USAID will support the PCiB’s projects and provide technical and financial assistance in the amount of $610,000 for preventing human trafficking and forced labour and for increasing the efficiency of fighting against such cases. The main objective is to raise public awareness on human trafficking and provide technical and financial assistance to civil society organizations providing services for victims of human trafficking and forced labour. Institutional Support and Capacity Building of the National Bomb Data Centre On 9 December, the PCiB hosted a meeting with representatives from the Ministries of National Security (MNS), Emergency Situations and Internal Affairs, as part of its project supporting the creation of a National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC) in Azerbaijan. During the meeting the participants shared ideas about the activity plan within the PCiB project towards the establishment of such NBDC. 123