Questions related to rule of law and democratic governance; of freedom of peaceful assembly and of the media; and of the rights of and protection for national minorities were just some of the human dimension concerns at the centre of much of the discussion at the event. As the Ministerial Council wrapped up, it seemed clear to most participants that these issues would continue to play a major role in the situation in Ukraine’s capital, and in the country as a whole. Against the backdrop of these concerns, OSCE participating States sent a positive message in Kyiv, working together to adopt decisions on improving the situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE area and on freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief. The adoption of these decisions was important not only for the areas on which they focus, but also because these were the first decisions adopted by OSCE participating States in the human dimension in three years. With governments in some participating States sometimes implicitly – or even explicitly – undercutting the importance of the human dimension commitments they have made in the past, their willingness and ability to come together to adopt these in Kyiv was a welcome sign. The need for continued efforts toward the improvement of the situation of Roma and Sinti, for example, and the importance of the work by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in this area, were demonstrated again in 2013. ODIHR issued its second status report on the Action Plan for Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE Area, and the status report formed the basis for discussion among representatives from civil society and from OSCE participating States at a Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting in Vienna in November. Released ten years after the adoption of the Action Plan, the report’s findings contributed significantly to the Ministerial Council decision and, in particular, to its focus on Roma and Sinti women, youth and children. This was already an area of focus for ODIHR’s Contact Point on Roma and Sinti Issues in 2013, in the Roma Youth Initiative, an innovative programme to enhance the participation of Roma and Sinti youth in their communities. Other activities carried out by the Contact Point focused on working at the grassroots level to support efforts to keep Roma youth in school and to promote better performance in education, as well as to facilitate better access to health care. The decision on freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief also touches directly on the work done by ODIHR. In co-operation with the Ukrainian 2013 Chairmanship of the OSCE and the European Council of Religious leaders, the Office organized a roundtable meeting at which participants stressed the role of inter-religious dialogue in promoting freedom of religion or belief. They also highlighted the role inter-faith and inter-religious initiatives play in countering intolerance and discrimination. Tolerance and non-discrimination were the focus of a high-level conference in Tirana in May, organized by the Ukrainian OSCE Chairmanship with the support of ODIHR, at which representatives from participating States and civil society reviewed and assessed progress in implementing OSCE commitments in this area. Released in November, ODIHR’s annual hate crimes report highlighted the continued need to improve the collection and recording of reliable data, such as on victim groups targeted and perpetrators, in order to support the efforts being made in many participating States to combat these crimes. The Training against Hate Crime for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme continued to help police in the OSCE area increase their knowledge and skills to recognize, understand and investigate hate crimes. Italy and Montenegro both signed agreements with ODIHR to implement the programme, bringing the number of participating States to have done so to six. The Office also closely followed the security challenges faced by Jewish communities across the OSCE region, and co-organized with the Ukrainian OSCE Chairmanship an expert meeting in Berlin in June, which brought together 100 governmental and Jewish-community experts from 20 participating States to discuss challenges in ensuring the safety of Jewish communities and to exchange good practices. As part of its established work in the areas of human rights and democratization, the Office also co-organized a Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting in Vienna in June on the Rule of Law in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. Participants identified best practices and explored current challenges and solutions with respect to effective national and international instruments to protect human rights and prevent their violation. One such right – that of freedom of peaceful assembly – was the focus of ODIHR monitoring of assemblies in 2013 in three participating States: Greece, Montenegro and Portugal. This was part of the Office’s second cycle of monitoring of such assemblies, which will continue into 2014. The results of ODIHR’s monitoring will be presented in a report that will identify the main challenges and good practices 6  /   ODIHR Annual Report 2013