48  //  TOLERANCE AND NON-DISCRIMINATION Karoline Fernández de la Hoz Zeitler, Director of the Spanish Centre for Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE) at the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, speaking during an ODIHR event on countering hate crime held in Warsaw on 15 September 2017, during the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. (OSCE/Tomasz Filipiak) “P rosecutors play a key role in shaping the criminal justice system’s response to hate crime. The added value of this course, which was customized to the needs of Greece, is that the participants will become trainers themselves. This will allow us to reach many more criminal justice officials and explain why it is in our common interest to acknowledge the threat hate crimes pose to our society.” — Supreme Court Prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou-Vassilopoulou * All references to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244  Working with civil society Civil society organizations play a critical role in countering hate crime, because they are often the first point of contact for victims who may be reluctant to report a crime directly to the police. The data civil society groups collect on hate incidents complements and contextualizes official figures, allowing ODIHR to better understand the true impact and nature of hate crimes. Strengthening the ability of civil society groups to identify and report hate crimes is a pillar of ODIHR’s work. As part of this work, dedicated workshops were held in Albania, Armenia, Serbia and Ukraine. An additional event, in Kyiv, aimed to build trust between police and civil society. During this training event, participants also learned from the Greek experience of building a civil society coalition for hate crime monitoring in co-operation with state authorities and international organizations. Regional workshops were organized in Serbia for Roma and Sinti civil society advocates, and in Georgia for civil society representatives from Central Asia. A workshop also took place in Kosovo.* COUNTERING INTOLERANCE AND HATE CRIMES AGAINST SPECIFIC GROUPS Comprehensive and holistic efforts are required to counter intolerance, involving criminal justice systems, government agencies, civil society and individuals. ODIHR works closely with affected communities to meet their needs.