Human Rights first EU Anti-Trafficking Day in October. They establish an EU standard that will be a reference for further developments. To better understand how referral mechanisms operate to protect victims of trafficking for labour exploitation, a meeting of civil society organizations was organized in April that included migrant- and labour-rights organizations, trafficking NGOs, and academics. The findings from the meeting and consultations with these experts contributed directly to ODIHR’s input on policy developments in the OSCE and EU context. To strengthen partnerships with organizations working on labourtrafficking issues, many of the same migrantand labour-rights organizations were invited to participate in the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting session devoted to a discussion of labour trafficking. They also contributed to two side events organized during the HDIM to advocate for the rights of migrant workers as an effective way of preventing trafficking. To assess compliance with human rights commitments on the protection of trafficked persons, ODIHR initiated a series of assessments in 2006 in Belarus, France, Turkey, Russia, and the United Kingdom. In 2007, the Office held meetings and exchanged comments on its assessment reports with the governments of Belarus, Turkey, Russia, and the United Kingdom. These reports identified both good practices and gaps in legislation and policy on trafficking that in some cases have triggered improvements in national practice. The assessment process has contributed to raising awareness of OSCE commitments, in particular of the role of NRMs in improving rights protection. The reports also flagged issues for future action. Following ODIHR’s assessment in Russia, for example, the Office launched a project to prevent trafficking for labour exploitation and improve protection of victims’ rights. The project, implemented in partnership with ILO Moscow and the Construction and Building Materials Industry Workers Union of the Russian Federation, will increase the awareness of vulnerable migrants to exploitation and their right to assistance. It also provides mediation services and access to legal remedies for exploited migrants seeking compensation and improved living and working conditions. Continuing its ongoing support of the implementation of Kazakhstan’s National Anti-Trafficking Action Plan, ODIHR assisted the OSCE Centre in Astana in conducting a second round of training for representatives of local authorities. Training courses were organized in Aktau and Taraz, two of the biggest towns in Kazakhstan attracting labour migrants for work in construction, oil fields, and agriculture, and where cases of trafficking for labour exploitation have been detected following joint research conducted by ODIHR and UNESCO on labour migration and exploitation in Kazakhstan. These courses built on the first round of training conducted in 2006 and focused on the identification of exploited migrants and lending them assistance, general issues of protecting migrant rights, and inter-agency co-operation. As follow-up to the September 2006 regional roundtable on “Building the Capacity of Roma Communities to Prevent Trafficking in Human Beings”, ODIHR supported a number of project initiatives in 2007: an exchange of social workers between Romania and Italy to build capacity in the areas of street and outreach work with Roma street children and Roma communities; the training of peer educators for outreach work within a Roma settlement in Tirana, Albania; providing information about rights and legal counselling for Roma civil society and community members in Albania. In view of the increasing interest among civil society organizations working on human trafficking and the absence of detailed information on the compensation of trafficked persons in the OSCE region, ODIHR conducted a research project on compensation practices in Albania, France, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A draft report on this research was presented for discussion and feedback during a workshop for civil society and state actors from 10 OSCE countries in Barcelona in December. Annual Report 2007 49