Foreword 2003 was a year of new opportunities for the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), as change came in the form of new mandates in the field of Roma and Sinti and anti-trafficking and through the creation of a new Human Rights Section. 2003 was also one of the busiest in the Office's history, including 12 election observation missions and the implementation of nearly 100 projects addressing issues from trial monitoring, capacity-building for domestic election observers, prison reform, and awareness-raising on anti-trafficking issues. These projects are at the heart of the ODIHR’s work; they are an example of how the protection and promotion of human rights and democracy has been taken from conference rooms to the field. Ambassador Christian Strohal of Austria (right) succeeded Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann as ODIHR Director in March. Some of the biggest challenges for the ODIHR are in the areas of promoting human rights and strengthening democratic institutions. While increased stability and openness in many transition countries are encouraging, new threats and negative trends, including in some of the OSCE region's established democracies, are a cause of genuine concern. There is a danger that human rights may become a casualty of terrorism and the efforts to fight it. There is also a clear need to address the rise in discrimination, hate crimes, and intolerance across our region. The ODIHR has continued to work on its core tasks - election observation, fostering democracy and respect for the rule of law, promoting and protecting human rights, and monitoring the implementation of human dimension commitments 4