Community Policing: Confidence-building aimed at fostering sustainable positive inter-ethnic relations among all communities and the police through forums such as LPCs and CAGs, as well as training and interaction with civil society; Promoting and supporting equal opportunities and rights of ethnic minorities, women and vulnerable groups; Advising on and strengthening of internal and external control mechanisms of the police. Comprehensive Security: Supporting border management and control, with a focus on internal and regional security through expert assistance; Supporting local, regional and international security by providing expert assistance and training in the fight against organized crime and terrorism. An added value of the PDD remained its strong field presence throughout the country’s police sectors (SIAs – Sectors for Internal Affairs), which ensured early warning and monitoring of the security and inter-ethnic situation, as well as building positive relations with local police and communities, thereby contributing to the development of a sustainable decentralized and community-oriented police service. In 2011, the Department was faced with a significant decrease in its overall budget and number of staff, in line with the overall downsizing trend of the Mission. In 2011, the PDD reduced its overall staffing levels by 20 percent and retained 42 staff members in total - 21 international and 21 national staff members. Early parliamentary elections took place in June 2011, a process that affected the smooth implementation of the envisaged programme activities, as both the MoIA and the Department had to devote time and manpower to ensure their effective progression. Pre-prepared action plans to address the foreseen circumstances were in place and regularly reviewed. Police Reform 2011 was marked by a continued progress toward police reform. January saw the enactment of the new Systematization of Posts Act introducing major organizational and functional challenges to the MoIA. The Act derives from the Law on Internal Affairs (LoIA), which was adopted in 2009, and works, inter alia, towards streamlining police staffing levels to achieve the recommended police-population ratio of 1:300. The Act fully caters to the LoIA provisions and seeks to further strengthen the required decentralization of the Ministry structures. Under the Act, posts of all ranks are being re-advertised, sometimes in lengthy and controversial selection processes. The process led to uncertainty within the ranks of the service and had a demoralizing effect, particularly for holders of downgraded positions and/or employees who, under the new Act, lost their “police” status. This, in turn, prompted inevitable reluctance among the Police members to engage and co-operate in active project implementation. By the end of the year, many senior posts had been filled, although a significant number still remained vacant, especially at the SIA level. Against this background, the Department made it central to support the effective implementation of the LoIA and its associated by-laws. In this respect, jointly with other members of the interagency Working Group (WG), composed of the MoIA, EU-Police Development Assistance Project (PDAP) and the US ICITAP, the PDD provided direct advisory support to the MoIA. The WG meetings focused primarily on elaborating the novelties introduced with the new systematization as well as on determining the practical challenges imposed to the Ministry and the Bureau of Public Security. 71