OVERVIEW    5 ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link (OSCE/Piotr Markowski) For the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), 2016 was special, as the Office celebrated its 25th anniversary. Over the course of the year, different events celebrating that anniversary provided opportunities to highlight past accomplishments, to take stock of current activities and the state of implementation of the human dimension commitments the Office is mandated to promote, and to plan for the future. Looking back, from its establishment with just four employees, ODIHR has grown to staff of more than 180 committed professionals. Created originally as the OSCE Office for Free Elections, the Office’s mandate and activities have grown in step with human dimension commitments made by OSCE participating States. Along with the promotion of democratic elections, the Office supports governments and civil society in the implementation of commitments on democratic governance and the rule of law, promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, promoting tolerance and non-discrimination, and improving the situation of Roma and Sinti across the OSCE area. Over the course of 2016, as we reflected on the work of the past 25 years, it was clear that there is much to be proud of. From the improvements in electoral systems based on ODIHR recommendations made in the course of observing and assessing of more than 300 elections to the identification and reporting of threats to human rights in conflict and post-conflict situations; from expertise and resources created to support governments’ efforts to increase women’s political participation to assistance provided to governments and civil society in the protection of human rights defenders; from identifying and highlighting both successes and shortcomings in the implementation of OSCE efforts to improve the situation of Roma and Sinti to the provision of training against hate crime for police officers in 12 OSCE participating States, the Office has worked actively and effectively to fulfil its mandate. Looking at the situation today, significant challenges in the human dimension of security remain, or have even grown. From the migration crisis to the ongoing crisis in and around Ukraine; from terrorist attacks in OSCE participating States in 2016, and the associated need to counter terrorism in a human rights-compliant manner, to