Women in Conflict Prevention, Crisis Management and Post-Conflict Rehabilitation, and on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women, the 17th Ministerial Council of the OSCE (Athens 2009), in its Decision on Women’s Participation in Political and Public Life, called on the participating States to consider providing for specific measure to achieve the goal of gender balance in all legislative, judicial and executive bodies, including police services. Acknowledging the “[…] diverse and multifaceted OSCE work, experience and lessons learned in the policing field, in particular the work of the SPMU and the field operations within their respective mandates”, the Permanent Council, in its Decision 914/09, adopted in Athens, expressed its conviction that the time had come to take stock of what had been done so far in policing and to “[…] initiate a thorough dialogue on how to further enhance police-related activities within the OSCE.” The Permanent Council tasked the Secretary General, “[…] within existing resources and in consultation with relevant OSCE executive structures, to prepare a report on police-related activities of the OSCE executive structures up to the end of 2009”. The report was to be based partly on the annual reports on police-related activities, reflecting existing mandates and OSCE commitments, and was “[…] to include an assessment of those activities and a forward looking perspective, offering long-term strategic recommendations”. Moreover, the Permanent Council decided that this report would be further discussed during the next Annual Police Experts Meeting in May 2010 as well as at the 2010 Annual Security Review Conference. The Athens Ministerial Council Decision No. 2/09 on Further OSCE Efforts to Address Transnational Threats and Challenges to Security and Stability took note of, inter alia, the OSCE’s contribution to international efforts to fight organized crime through the provision of relevant law enforcement expertise and assistance to participating States and called for exploring further ways to strengthen synergies in OSCE activities against transnational threats, addressing them in a comprehensive and cross-dimensional manner and focusing on areas, where the OSCE has a comparative advantage and can complement the work of other international organizations. “Recalling that the OSCE, as a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations and as a primary organization for the peaceful settlement of disputes within its region, is a key instrument for early warning, conflict prevention and resolution, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation”, the participating States, in the 2011 Vilnius Ministerial Council Decision No. 3/11 on Elements of the Conflict Cycle, Related to Enhancing the OSCE’s Capabilities in Early Warning, Early Action, Dialogue Facilitation and Mediation Support, and Post-Conflict Rehabilitation, reiterated “[…] that the OSCE’s ability to deploy civilian, police or unarmed military expertise rapidly is essential to effective conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation”, and expressed their expectation for “[…] the OSCE Chairmanship and the executive structures to take full advantage of their respective mandates to address all phases of the conflict cycle” and while urging the Chairmanship and participating States to use, swiftly and to the greatest extent possible, all available tools and procedures as applicable to a particular crisis or conflict situation […].” “Reiterating the determination expressed by Heads of State or Government of the OSCE participating States in the 2010 Astana Commemorative Declaration: Towards a Security Community to achieve greater unity of purpose and action in facing emerging transnational threats, such as terrorism, organized crime, illegal migration, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyberthreats and the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, drugs and human beings”, the Vilnius Ministerial Council, in Decision No. 9/11 on Strengthening Coordination and Coherence in the OSCE’s Efforts to Address Transnational Threats welcomed “the proposals by the Secretary General included in the 2012 Unified Budget Proposal for the creation of a department to address transnational threats, consistent with the OSCE’s mandates and within available resources, with a view to ensuring better co-ordination, strengthened coherence and more efficient use of the OSCE’s resources in addressing transnational threats […].” Following up on the Athens Ministerial Council Decision No. 2/09 and the Report 2010 by the OSCE Secretary General on the Implementation of MC.DEC/2/09 on Further OSCE Efforts to Address Transnational Threats and Challenges to Security and Stability, the 2011 Vilnius Ministerial Council adopted Decision No. 9/11 on Strengthening Co-ordination and Coherence in 163