44  •  Annexes HUMAN DIMENSION MEETINGS 2015 Human rights are universal – they are inherent to all human beings, no matter nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. However, people can only, really enjoy them if there are laws, institutions and structures that allow people to fully exercise their rights. To achieve that in the OSCE region, the 57 participating States promote the application of their commitments in the human dimension of security through annual meetings to discuss and review implementation and, if needed, to ­identify issues for political action. To this end, every year human dimension meetings are organized, including: HUMAN DIMENSION IMPLEMENTATION MEETING (HDIM) Opening session of the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2015 in Warsaw, 21 September. (OSCE/ Piotr Markowski) The HDIM is organized in Warsaw, once a year, for all participating States to discuss implementation of OSCE human dimension commitments. In 2015, HDIM special topics included challenges to the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms and human rights in the age of new information and communication technologies, including the respect for privacy; independence of the judicial system, with a particular focus on accountability and integrity of judges and prosecutors; and combating hate crimes and ensuring effective protection against discrimination. SUPPLEMENTARY HUMAN DIMENSION MEETINGS (SHDMS) Konstantin Baranov (l), Member of the Coordinating Council of the International Youth Human Rights Movement, Ambassador Maria Leissner (c-r), Secretary General of the Community of Democracies, and Melanie Sully, Head of the Go-Governance Institute, listening to Alice Thomas (c-l), Chief of ODIHR’s Legislative Support Unit, giving her opening remarks, during a side event at Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, in Warsaw, 22 September. (OSCE/Murat Gungor) SHDMs are informal meetings organized by the OSCE Chairmanship and ODIHR, in co-operation with other OSCE institutions and executive structures, to discuss key substantive concerns raised at the previous HDIM or OSCE review conferences. The three meetings last one and a half days each and usually take place in Vienna. The year’s three SHDMs highlighted the issues of freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, with emphasis on freedom of association; freedom of religion or belief and fostering mutual respect and understanding; and the OSCE contribution to the protection of national minorities. HUMAN DIMENSION SEMINAR (HDS) Organized by ODIHR under the guidance of the OSCE Chairmanship, the annual seminar addresses specific topics and questions of particular relevance to the human dimension and of current political concern. The 2015 HDS topic was the role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) in promoting and protecting human rights in the OSCE Area.