Democratization Participants brainstorm about increasing women’s participation in political life in Georgia at a roundtable co-organized by ODIHR in Tbilisi, 25 April 2012. (Photo: Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy) for all other activities aimed at promoting women’s rights. In 2012, ODIHR continued to provide support to field operations in their activities to prevent and combat violence against women, and succeeded in building partnerships with key external actors. For example, ODIHR contributed to the conference organized by UN Women on the enforcement of domestic violence legislation, held on 23 and 24 January in Almaty. In co-operation with the Council of Europe, UN Women and the OSCE Gender Section, the Office organized a side event on violence against women and domestic violence during the 2012 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, where more than 40 participants discussed international standards in preventing and combating violence against women, resulting in the identification of concrete opportunities for ODIHR to support OSCE participating States in strengthening their legal frameworks. Strengthening Parliaments Effective, pluralistic and representative parliaments are essential to effective democratic governance. ODIHR’s democratic governance activities are rooted in the standards that OSCE participating States have agreed to uphold. These activities provide assistance to parliaments, focusing on increasing the capacity of parliamentarians to carry out their legislative, representative and oversight functions. This assistance is offered in collaboration with OSCE field operations and implemented in co-operation with key domestic stakeholders, international organizations and civil society groups. Building on ODIHR’s parliamentary support work, the Office co-operated with the Parliament of Georgia to organize an international conference on “Codes and Standards of Ethics for Parliamentarians”. The event, held on 19 April in Tbilisi, included expert-led sessions, in which participants discussed challenges in regulating professional conduct of members of parliament, with a special focus on the experience of other OSCE countries. To support the conference, ODIHR commissioned Transparency International Georgia to produce an independent study on parliamentary ethical standards in Georgia. As a result of this event, the Georgian Parliament expressed its interest in reviving its 2004 Code of Ethics. In co-operation with the Albanian Parliament and the OSCE Presence in Albania, the Office also organized a conference on “Standards of Parliamentary Ethics and Codes”, held on 17 and 18 July in Tirana. The event brought together senior Albanian members ODIHR Annual Report 2012 35