Human Rights patibility with international human rights standards and OSCE commitments. The ODIHR will also conduct training workshops for state and/or civil society representatives to assist them in the dissemination and implementation of the practical and policy recommendations contained in the handbook and to strengthen the capacity of interested parties to integrate human rights in the armed forces. Focal point for human rights defenders and national human rights institutions Human rights defenders and national human rights institutions (NHRIs) play an important role in safeguarding democracy and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms. In a number of OSCE states, however, human rights defenders continuously work under extreme pressure from state authorities and face restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression, association, and assembly. There are still too many cases where human rights defenders are subjected to unnecessary bureaucratic burdens, arbitrary detentions, assaults, ill-treatment, or defamation campaigns. In response to one of the recommendations made at the March 2006 Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting entitled “Human Rights Defenders and National Human Rights Institutions: Legislative, State and Non-State Aspects”, the ODIHR decided to establish a Focal Point for Human Rights Defenders and National Human Rights Institutions. As part of the new programme, the ODIHR will continue monitoring implementation of OSCE commitments relating to freedom of assembly and association, with a particular focus on human rights defenders. Among its priorities for 2007 will be building capacity to promote and protect human rights in policy and practice through training and other capacity-building activities for human rights defenders and relevant staff of NHRIs, promoting the dissemination of the ODIHR’s Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, raising awareness among civil society about international standards on freedom of assembly, and building the capac- ity of human rights defenders and independent NHRIs to monitor compliance with freedomof-assembly standards and prepare objective reports for the use of national authorities and international actors. The ODIHR will promote good practices among participating States, human rights defenders, and NHRIs and increase awareness of, and improve implementation of, OSCE human dimension commitments through targeted activities, including elaboration of a guidebook on freedom of association with a special focus on NGOs. Human rights, women and security The priority will remain implementation of UNSCR 1325. To follow up on the regional roundtable in Central Asia, the next step will be to conduct country-level workshops. The ODIHR will also enter the programmatic area of gender, women’s rights, and securitysector reform. Despite the clear mandate given in UNSCR 1325 for increased female participation and gender mainstreaming within the area of peace and security, the field of security-sector reform remains largely unfocused with regard to issues of gender and women’s participation. At the same time, there has been a significant lack of research, resources, policy analyses, and training materials on gender and issues related to security-sector reform. The ODIHR will cooperate with the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces and the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women to implement a project on gender and securitysector reform. The aim of the project will be to increase knowledge and capacities regarding gender aspects of security-sector reform among researchers, policy makers, and practitioners. Among other activities, new research will be commissioned in the form of expert papers on a range of subjects relating to gender and security-sector reform, which together will form a toolkit on how aspects of gender and women’s rights can be integrated in practice. Annual Report  63