Annexes  •  45 In 2015, five human dimension meetings took place, with more than 2000 participants total. Participants included representatives of participating States (official delegations), OSCE Partners for Co-operation, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), international organizations, the OSCE institutions and executive structures, civil society and nongovernmental organizations, as well as academics and media. Participants of human dimension meetings are encouraged to organize side events on relevant human dimension issues to facilitate informal discussions between different partners. Side events provide an opportunity to present best practices, to brief participants on different projects and activities and to conduct more in-depth and focused discussions on various issues related to democracy and human rights in the OSCE area. HDIM participants actively utilized this opportunity IN THE SPOTLIGHT CIVIL SOCIETY AT HUMAN DIMENSION IMPLEMENTATION MEETING 2015 Civil society organizations form the largest group of participants of human dimension meetings. In 2015, there were 766 various representatives of civil society – among them big international non-governmental organizations, small citizens groups and human rights activists and defenders. They are active contributors to sessions – during HDIM they took the floor 373 times, official delegations did so 213 times. Also, more than half of side events were organized by civil society this year. Member of civil society speaking during session on rule of law, at the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, 25 September 2015 (Piotr Markowski) Civil society plays a vital role in implementing and safeguarding human dimension commitments in the OSCE area. Non-governmental organizations, human rights defenders and activists serve as watchdogs for governments, not only reporting acts of corruption, injustice or human rights violations, but also helping to translate human dimension commitments into practice in the local communities. ODIHR’s human dimension meetings provide a unique opportunity for these individuals and organizations to come face-to-face and have their voices heard by their own governments and the international community. Anne Gaspard, Executive Director of Equinet, moderating the session on combating hate crimes and ensuring effective protection against discrimination, during Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, 29 September 2015 (OSCE/Murat Gungor)