Manufacturing

Manufacturing

Manufacturing

Manufacturing

Manufacturing

Manufacturing

Manufacturing

Commercial Changes / Commercial viability

Commercial Changes / Commercial viability

Room 30, Parliament Buildings

Room 30, Parliament Buildings

Room 30, Parliament Buildings

Room 29, Parliament Buildings

Room 29, Parliament Buildings

Room 30, Parliament Buildings

Room 29, Parliament Buildings

Room 29, Parliament Buildings

Stanford Medicine bioethicist Tyler Tate found high levels of success in ballet, miming, acting, fencing and collegiate tennis. But his love of storytelling ultimately led him to medicine.

The post From ballet to medicine, a love of stories has driven this bioethicist appeared first on Scope.

Our researchers picked cells from all over the human body — cells of all shapes, sizes and abilities. From the brain to the heart to the intestines.

The post The cells that stoke the imaginations of Stanford Medicine scientists appeared first on Scope.

Custom designing proteins — a breakthrough recognized by the latest Nobel Prize in chemistry — could yield treatments that stop the worst of COVID-19 before it begins.

The post Stanford Medicine experts help Nobel winner custom design proteins for COVID-19 therapy appeared first on Scope.

The Committee for the Executive Office today called for a joined-up approach to ongoing scrutiny and monitoring of Government delivery in its report on the draft Programme for Government 2016-21.

The Northern Ireland Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee has reiterated its determination to get to the bottom of the issues in its inquiry into the non-domestic renewable heat incentive scheme.

The Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (AERA) Committee has highlighted that farmers may need to ensure that planning permission is in place or that they have already applied for the necessary permissions to avail of the new Farm Business Improvement Scheme (FSIB) Tier Two.

The Health Committee held its meeting this morning at the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology at Queen’s University, Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Assembly Committee for Infrastructure has welcomed the introduction of online applications for blue badges.

William Ulrich and Neal McWhorter, authors of Business Architecture: The Art and Practice of Business Transformation, cover the basics and discuss the role of business architecture in a changing market landscape.

William Ulrich and Neal McWhorter, authors of Business Architecture: The Art and Practice of Business Transformation, discuss why billions of IT investment dollars are wasted, and how to stop the bleeding.

William Ulrich and Neal McWhorter, authors of Business Architecture: The Art and Practice of Business Transformation, discuss why the IT and business sides of many organizations can't play nice.

William Ulrich and Neal McWhorter, authors of Business Architecture: The Art and Practice of Business Transformation, discuss how IT architects and business architects can work together to get the ship back on course and keep it there.

Software engineering and civil engineering have little in common. But should software engineers be more like their civil counterparts? A panel of software development experts explores the issues.

Groundbreaker Podcast associate producer Javed Mohammed [@JavedMohammed] first encountered Dr. Hulme in January 2020 at Oracle OpenWorld Middle East in Dubai, where Dr. Hulme, a featured speaker, delivered a session on “AI and the Future of Business” as part of the Transformational Technologies track. ”I was so impressed with his vision and his unconventional thinking,” Javed says. This program, which features Javed’s conversation with Dr. Hulme, grew out of their meeting in Dubai.

In this conversation Oracle Community Manager Javed Mohammed speaks with three AI-ML experts.

Autonomous technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are on the tip of every tongue in tech. But what is the difference between AI and ML? What are interesting use cases? What is “under the hood” of AI/ML and the algorithms that power ML models?

We have three Subject Matter Experts who share their insights into a fascinating and at times humorous conversation.

• Charlie Berger, Sr. Director of Product Management for Machine Learning, AI and Cognitive Analytics at Oracle.
• Heli Helskyaho, CEO Miracle Finland  Oracle ACE Director, Groundbreaker Ambassador. Author. Doctoral student, University of Helsinki. Also known as HeliFromFinland.
• Katharine Jarmul, Head of Product at Cape Privacy, she is a Privacy activist, AI dissenter, machine learning engineer. Author and teacher for O'Reilly.

Listen to learn about what makes AI and ML solutions powerful as well as the challenges we face from them. Charlie, Heli and Katharine explain some of the fundamentals about this revolutionary technology but also share personal stories which make for a memorable Podcast.

Read the complete show notes here.

Red Bull Racing Honda and Oracle Team up on a Series of Machine Learning HOLs — First Lab for Beginners on Wednesday August 11 at 8 AM PST

Jim Grisanzio and Chris Bensen from Oracle Developer Relations preview the first in a series of unique hands-on labs. Starting on August 11 at 8 AM PST developers will have the opportunity to team up with Red Bull Racing Honda and Oracle in a hands-on lab that uses race data to teach machine learning. Video. 

Register for the lab here! Same link for on demand!

Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations
https://twitter.com/jimgris
https://developer.oracle.com/team/ 

Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Bert Jan Schrijver from The Netherlands. Bert is a Java Champion, a leader of the Dutch Java User Group, and the CTO and co-founder of OpenValue that he started in 2017.

The conversation spans all of Bert's experiences as a software developer, including hacking and gaming as a six-year old, contributing to the computer lab fire in school, blowing out the family's phone bill with his first modem, getting an advanced CS education at university, engaging the Java community globally, and building his own software company. Bert also offers some interesting advice for how people can continue learning and growing and contributing to the community at Java events. He also details why Java is special and why developers embrace the technology: "Java is one of the only languages I know of that has been active and current for so long. And one of the keys is the marvel of engineering in the Java Virtual Machine." 

Bert: https://twitter.com/bjschrijver

Jim: https://twitter.com/jimgris 

Jim Grisanzio from Java Developer Relations talks with Simon Martinelli, a Java Champion and an Oracle ACE Pro from Switzerland who loves contributing to FOSS projects and teaching students all about Java. The conversation ranges from Simon’s early experience learning Java, working for the Swiss Railway, engaging multiple Java User Groups, and teaching students. Simon also gets into the benefits of modern Java and some of the best features the technology offers for developers.

Simon: https://x.com/simas_ch

Jim: https://x.com/jimgris

The Oracle Magazine Podcast is being retired and this feed will be deleted. Thank you to the listeners of the Oracle Magazine Podcast. You can find a list of the current Oracle podcasts at oracle.com/podcasts

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator on 15 July 2016 launched the first distance course in Ukraine on the application of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Developed, designed and produced by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator, the course was finalized after it was successfully piloted on the online platform of the National School of Judges of Ukraine (NSJU).

From now the NSJU will have this sustainable tool at its disposal for systematically training judges on applying the case-law of the ECtHR without having to involve extra human or financial resources. Thirty judges from all over Ukraine have already been trained distantly and received their certificates of accomplishment.

The content was developed in co-operation with experts on the European Convention on Human Rights and the case-law of the ECtHR, and Ukrainian judges.

The course was developed as part of the “Safeguarding Human Rights through Courts” project, which is being implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine with the financial support of the Government of Canada.

Related Stories

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WARSAW / BUCHAREST, 2 August 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), called today for greater efforts to protect endangered memorial sites related to the Roma and Sinti genocide during World War II.

Speaking on the occasion of the commemoration of the liquidation of the “Gypsy family camp” at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, when the close to 3,000 remaining Roma and Sinti in the camp were murdered, they stressed that states have to do more to demonstrate their sincere and strong commitment to education about and remembrance of the genocide.

“Positively, we have seen increasing attention in recent years on the part of OSCE participating States to commemorate the Roma and Sinti genocide, and to educate people about this horrible event. This practice and these experiences should be widely shared and replicated,” Director Link said. “Promoting understanding of the Holocaust and its effect on different communities can help to create empathy and promote equality and non-discrimination for all.”

“Accurate and ethical education about the Holocaust includes the respectful and dignified preservation of memorial sites,” said Ambassador Constantinescu. “States have to take resolute action to protect endangered memorial sites and continue to do more to commemorate the Roma and Sinti victims. The history of these endangered sites should be included as part of broader efforts to educate about the consequences of indifference to racism.”

They called on governments to ensure that endangered memorial sites for Roma and Sinti victims are preserved and protected, to include this history as an integral part of civic and human rights education in their countries. They stressed that current developments, including a disturbing rise in xenophobic public rhetoric and racism, mean it is even more essential to build strong alliances among different communities.

In 2003, with the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area, the OSCE participating States committed themselves to strengthen education about the Roma and Sinti genocide. Through its Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues, ODIHR promotes knowledge about and recognition of the plight of Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust to counter present-day discrimination and racism, and to promote tolerance. According to ODIHR’s recent publication Teaching about and Commemorating the Roma and Sinti Genocide: Practices within the OSCE Area, seven OSCE participating States officially commemorate the Roma and Sinti genocide on 2 August, while a larger number of states commemorate the Roma and Sinti victims on the International Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is an inter-governmental organization and the foremost international network of political leaders and professionals advancing and shaping Holocaust education, remembrance and research. Its 31 member countries are committed to the tenets of the Stockholm Declaration. The IHRA Committee on the Genocide of the Roma aims to increase the commitment of IHRA Member Countries to educate, research and commemorate the genocide of the Roma.

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The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the International Renaissance Foundation supported a training session for eight board members of the Association of Legal Clinics in Ukraine on strategic planning, which was held in Bucha, Ukraine, on 30-31 May 2016.

The participants conducted brainstorming sessions on formulating the mission statement, main areas of practice, institutional development of the organization as well as an strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of organizational capacity, and prepared a strategic plan for 2016-2018. They also learned about the best practices of organizational and institutional development from national and international experts.

Katarzyna Furman, board member of the European Network for Clinical Legal Education, and Filip Czernicki, board member of the Polish Legal Clinics Foundation, shared their experience of management standards and methods of improving efficiency.

The event was organized as part of the OSCE project aimed at supporting reform and development of legal education in Ukraine. The Project Co-ordinator also developed the first manual clinical legal education in Ukraine, which was an important component of quality and practice-oriented legal education.

Related Stories

• OSCE launches first distance human rights course in Ukraine for judges
• OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine trains social entrepreneurs on social media marketing
• OSCE supports Ukrainian legal education practitioners in developing human rights-oriented approaches to their work

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator on 15 July 2016 launched the first distance course in Ukraine on the application of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Developed, designed and produced by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator, the course was finalized after it was successfully piloted on the online platform of the National School of Judges of Ukraine (NSJU).

From now the NSJU will have this sustainable tool at its disposal for systematically training judges on applying the case-law of the ECtHR without having to involve extra human or financial resources. Thirty judges from all over Ukraine have already been trained distantly and received their certificates of accomplishment.

The content was developed in co-operation with experts on the European Convention on Human Rights and the case-law of the ECtHR, and Ukrainian judges.

The course was developed as part of the “Safeguarding Human Rights through Courts” project, which is being implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine with the financial support of the Government of Canada.

Related Stories

• OSCE supports Ukrainian legal education practitioners in developing human rights-oriented approaches to their work
• OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine trains social entrepreneurs on social media marketing
• OSCE Project Co-ordinator supports creation of a pool of trainers on anti-corruption for Ukraine’s judges

TBILISI, 5 July 2016 – At the close of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th Annual Session in Tbilisi today, members of the Assembly elected Austrian parliamentarian Christine Muttonen as President. Muttonen has previously served as OSCE PA Vice-President and Special Representative for Central and Eastern Asia, and is Deputy Head of the Austrian Delegation to the PA.

Upon being elected, Muttonen said that she would pursue direct talks with governments and other OSCE institutions on advancing avenues for closer co-operation.

“Parliamentarians can play a very important role in securing peace and stability,” she said. “It will be my duty to make sure they have the possibility to do so.”

OSCE PA Vice-Presidents were also elected today: Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (Lithuania), Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan), and Isabel Santos (Portugal) were elected to three-year terms, and Victor Dobre (Romania) was elected to a one-year term.

On Monday, the OSCE PA’s General Committee on Political Affairs and Security elected its leadership. Members of the committee re-elected Roger Wicker (United States) and Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden) Chair and Rapporteur, respectively, and Guglielmo Picchi (Italy) was elected Vice-Chair.

In the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment on Sunday, members elected Nilza Sena (Portugal) Chair and Artur Gerasymov (Ukraine) Vice-Chair. Italian parliamentarian Marietta Tidei was re-elected Rapporteur.

Members of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions on Monday elected Ignacio Sanchez Amor (Spain) Chair and Kyriakos Kyriakou-Hadjiyanni (Cyprus) Rapporteur. Vice-Chair Ivana Dobesova (Czech Republic) was re-elected by acclamation.

In his final address as Assembly President, Finnish parliamentarian and former Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE Ilkka Kanerva noted that he has led the PA during challenging times.

“In these times, it is important to recall the validity of all ten Helsinki Final Act principles. As President, I have worked to reaffirm these principles, even as they have been put to the test lately. I believe that reviving the spirit of Helsinki requires ensuring that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly remains an Assembly that is inclusive, open and transparent,” he said.

He also highlighted his special paper distributed at the Tbilisi Annual Session entitled “Our common vision for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.”

Kanerva was elected President of the Assembly at the Baku Annual Session in July 2014, and will now serve as President Emeritus of the Assembly.

For the full text of the OSCE PA’s Declaration and resolutions adopted today in Tbilisi, as well as speeches, photos, videos and more, please visit http://www.oscepa.org/meetings/annual-sessions/2016-tbilisi-annual-session. Additional photos are available on the Georgian Parliament’s Flickr pages at https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoparliament  and https://www.flickr.com/photos/oscepatbilisi/.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

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Thirty experts were trained to deliver specialized training courses for judges on how to review corruption–related disputes and prevent corruption in the judiciary during a two-day session, organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the National School of Judges on 5-6 July 2016 outside Kyiv.

The trainees, judges-lecturers of five regional branches of the School, enhanced their knowledge of anti-corruption legislation, including national regulations and relevant international conventions, major aspects of judges’ ethics, including the identification and prevention of real and potential conflicts of interest, and judicial review of corruption-related disputes. The purpose of the session was to create a pool of experts able to deliver training courses for their peers at the National School of Judges on a regular basis.

According to the Judicial Education Concept adopted by the School, the training methodology was based on interactive techniques and included discussions, case studies, mini-lectures, various exercises and role plays, and screenings of short simulation videos on the topic.

To ensure the sustainability of OSCE efforts, the training course on anti-corruption will be submitted for institutionalization at the National School of Judges by the end of the year. This course will form part of the School’s mandatory curriculum for every judge appointed to the post.

The training session was part of a project by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine to enhance the quality of judicial education and training.

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• OSCE supports Ukrainian legal education practitioners in developing human rights-oriented approaches to their work

SLOVIANSK, Ukraine, 7 April 2016 – The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, at a ceremony in Sloviansk, Donetsk region today, presented representatives of the Infrastructure Ministry’s State Special Transport Service with 15 sets of protective equipment, including vests and helmets, which are to be delivered to local deminers working along transport routes in the east of the country.

The State Special Transport Service is responsible for ensuring the safety of the transport network and for restoring railways and bridges destroyed by hostilities. This often involves clearing mines and unexploded ordnance that threaten civilian transportation routes. 

“Safety of communications is extremely important in the context of sustainable post-conflict recovery, future peace and security in the region,” said Vaidotas Verba, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. “I hope that with our help the Service will be in better position to swiftly and efficiently ensure safer conditions for the movement of people and goods in the conflict-affected areas.”

Since July 2014 the Service has cleared over 300 kilometres of railways in government-controlled areas of Donbas and disposed of more than 4,500 unexploded ordnance, mines and booby traps. This is among the more than 100,000 such dangerous items discovered and destroyed by all organizations working in the region, which are involved in dealing with these remnants of conflict.

To help Ukraine address this new challenge, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator is also training the country's humanitarian deminers on international mine action standards, helping to introduce a modern information management system to improve operations and the inter-agency co-ordination of efforts, and assisting in developing relevant legislation and standards.

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Ways to increase the sustainability of social businesses by using social media marketing tools were discussed at a training session organized in Kyiv on 26 July 2016 by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

The event gathered representatives of three social businesses that were established with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine so that they can provide job skills for people vulnerable to human trafficking. The social businesses also simultaneously serve as revenue sources for local NGOs working on anti-trafficking.

The training course focused on widespread social networks and ways of using them for increasing social enterprises’ profit, including the best use of social media to attract customers and gain their positive feedback. The participants had a chance to practice their digital skills and communication abilities during the hands-on exercises aimed at producing high-quality content for social networks.

Natalia Myakushko, Head of the Rukomysli Social Enterprise in Lviv, thanked the OSCE Project Co-ordinator for its continuous support. “The innovative idea of social business requires innovative tools for its development and this training helps us to use modern communication channels in an efficient way for the benefit of people vulnerable to human trafficking,” she said.

This is the first of three training sessions which will help social entrepreneurs develop a strategy for interacting with new media.

The training sessions are part of a project on preventing human trafficking in Ukraine through the economic empowerment of vulnerable persons, which is being implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in co-operation with the Ukrainian Ministry of Social Policy, and with the support from the Canadian Government and Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The project aims at the establishment of and support to social businesses that work to prevent human trafficking by providing beneficiaries with sufficient and sustainable income at home, giving them genuine and viable livelihood options, and therefore decreasing the likelihood of persons taking up deceptive job offers where they may be exploited.  

So far, 52 people at risk of human trafficking, including 14 internally displaced people, two victims of domestic violence and one ex-combatant, as well as six people who were formerly subjected to human trafficking have already benefited from the job skills’ courses within these social businesses.

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KYIV, 5 AUGUST 2016 –OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Madina Jarbussynova, on Friday concluded an official visit to Ukraine aimed at raising awareness of human trafficking and the risks encountered by the most vulnerable groups as a consequence of the current crisis.

During her five-day visit, she met with representatives of the Donetsk Oblast state administration and female Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Kramatorsk. Ambassador Jarbussynova also travelled to Kharkiv to talk to relevant civil society representatives about the situation on the ground, how to prevent the expansion of the conflict-driven human trafficking phenomenon, and to evaluate existing mechanisms of identifying, referring and assisting victims of trafficking in human beings.

“More than one-and-a-half million citizens have been displaced – a vast number that demands a comprehensive response,” Jarbussynova said. “This vulnerable group can easily find itself in situations where human trafficking may occur.”

In Kyiv, the OSCE Special Representative met with Ukrainian authorities to discuss progress in anti-trafficking measures and review future plans.

“The Government of Ukraine has recently demonstrated a high level of commitment to addressing human trafficking, particularly in enhancing its victim identification efforts and in filing cases to relevant courts”, said Jarbussynova.

At the same time, she noted that there are still considerable gaps in the National Referral Mechanism for victims, and that long-term, sustainable measures should be sought.

The Special Representative travels regularly to Ukraine, engaging with high-level authorities and holding training sessions together with the Special Monitoring Mission and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator to strengthen the capacity of the Ukrainian institutions and OSCE monitors to spot human trafficking trends and to report on alleged cases.

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Improving the situation of Roma in Ukraine by enhancing co-operation between Roma civil society organizations and national and regional authorities was the focus of a roundtable meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine in Kyiv on 24 November 2015.

Some 40 participants from Ukrainian national and regional authorities, Roma civil society and the international community, discussed the challenges faced by Roma in the areas of education, employment, housing and policing.

“Further efforts are needed to implement a strong anti-discrimination approach in all policies targeting the integration and protection of Roma and, in particular, of Roma women,” said Mirjam Karoly, ODIHR Senior Adviser on Roma and Sinti Issues. “Measurable progress at the local level can only be achieved if policies are needs-based and have concrete objectives that are matched with measurable indicators and realistic budgets.”

Andriy Vitrenko, Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine for European Integration, stated that the Ministry was tasked in 2013to facilitate the implementation of the Strategy on the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society up to 2020. “In order to achieve the goals set out in the Strategy, close collaboration among a number of ministries at the national level and good co-ordination with regional and local level authorities are needed.”

During the meeting, the participants emphasized that many Roma lack personal documents, hindering them from exercising their fundamental, social and political rights.

Volodomyr Kondur, Chairperson of the Roma Coalition, said: “We welcome the adoption of national and regional policy documents addressing the problems Roma face, but we want to see effective and sustainable results and ask for ensuring involvement of the Roma civil society in all stages of policy implementation and evaluation.”

The roundtable meeting was organized as a follow-up to ODIHR’s Situation Assessment Report on Roma in Ukraine and the Impact of the Current Crises and in line with the 2003 OSCE Action Plan on Roma and Sinti.

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WARSAW / BUCHAREST, 2 August 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), called today for greater efforts to protect endangered memorial sites related to the Roma and Sinti genocide during World War II.

Speaking on the occasion of the commemoration of the liquidation of the “Gypsy family camp” at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, when the close to 3,000 remaining Roma and Sinti in the camp were murdered, they stressed that states have to do more to demonstrate their sincere and strong commitment to education about and remembrance of the genocide.

“Positively, we have seen increasing attention in recent years on the part of OSCE participating States to commemorate the Roma and Sinti genocide, and to educate people about this horrible event. This practice and these experiences should be widely shared and replicated,” Director Link said. “Promoting understanding of the Holocaust and its effect on different communities can help to create empathy and promote equality and non-discrimination for all.”

“Accurate and ethical education about the Holocaust includes the respectful and dignified preservation of memorial sites,” said Ambassador Constantinescu. “States have to take resolute action to protect endangered memorial sites and continue to do more to commemorate the Roma and Sinti victims. The history of these endangered sites should be included as part of broader efforts to educate about the consequences of indifference to racism.”

They called on governments to ensure that endangered memorial sites for Roma and Sinti victims are preserved and protected, to include this history as an integral part of civic and human rights education in their countries. They stressed that current developments, including a disturbing rise in xenophobic public rhetoric and racism, mean it is even more essential to build strong alliances among different communities.

In 2003, with the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area, the OSCE participating States committed themselves to strengthen education about the Roma and Sinti genocide. Through its Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues, ODIHR promotes knowledge about and recognition of the plight of Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust to counter present-day discrimination and racism, and to promote tolerance. According to ODIHR’s recent publication Teaching about and Commemorating the Roma and Sinti Genocide: Practices within the OSCE Area, seven OSCE participating States officially commemorate the Roma and Sinti genocide on 2 August, while a larger number of states commemorate the Roma and Sinti victims on the International Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is an inter-governmental organization and the foremost international network of political leaders and professionals advancing and shaping Holocaust education, remembrance and research. Its 31 member countries are committed to the tenets of the Stockholm Declaration. The IHRA Committee on the Genocide of the Roma aims to increase the commitment of IHRA Member Countries to educate, research and commemorate the genocide of the Roma.

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A record number of 1,150 local inspectors in Serbia have successfully completed a three-month OSCE-supported online course on implementing the new Law on Inspection Surveillance. Of this number, 280 inspectors from the capital and its municipalities were publically recognized on 7 July 2016 at the premises of the Assembly of the City of Belgrade.

Local-level inspectors work in the areas of construction, environment, traffic, communal issues.  This course, supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, was developed at the request of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government.  

“The capacity building of staff working in local self-governments is particularly important as they are the closest to the citizens.” said Acting Head of the Democratization Department at the OSCE Mission, Olivera Zurovac-Kuzman. “The strong interest in the training course speaks about the relevance of the inspectorate and their roles in local communities. Proper surveillance is key in responding to the need for better governance at all levels of government,” she added.

The online course on the Law on Inspection Surveillance was developed after the successful implementation of online training courses for local self-government employees and councillors in 2014 and 2015, which proved to be an effective new approach for the professional development of local self-governments.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia will remain committed to supporting local self-governments across Serbia in the process of public administration reform.

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• Regional Conference on Legal Remedies in Criminal Proceedings: Laws in the Region and Their Application

The OSCE Mission to Moldova held the final in a series of three training sessions for 12 psychologists and professionals working with domestic violence victims. The session took place on 27 June 2016 in Rybnitsa, a town on the left bank of the Dniester/Nistru River.

The event aimed to equip participants with essential skills in family counselling and post-traumatic stress rehabilitation. Participants studied means to identify family violence, various coaching techniques to use when working with families, as well as methods for handling trauma and post-traumatic stress among domestic violence victims.

In the past week, similar training events have been held in Chisinau and Tiraspol with the total participation of 50 professionals from Bender, Causeni, Chisinau, Comrat, Drochia, Rybnitsa and Tiraspol.

Participants in the training sessions included psychologists, teachers, medical professionals, lawyers and social workers, all of whom encounter cases of domestic violence in their work through Moldova’s referral system.

The training events were held as part of the Mission’s project to strengthen the capacity of those who provide crisis services to women and families on both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River. The project was developed following a country-wide assessment conducted in 2014 and 2015. The assessment identified a number of challenges in this field in Moldova, most notably the difficulties in accessing domestic violence services – including shelters and crisis centres – for those living in rural areas, and a lack of state resources. 

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