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ODIHR presents pilot version of its platform for hate incident reporting to Polish and Hungarian NGOs

29 November 2017
A member of staff of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) testing a pilot version of a platform for reporting and recording hate incidents developed as part of ODIHR's Words into Action to Address Anti-Semitism project. 29 November 2017. (OSCE/Dejan Petrovic) Photo details

A pilot version of a platform for reporting and recording hate incidents, which is being developed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), was presented and discussed with representatives of Polish and Hungarian civil society organizations during meetings in Warsaw and Budapest on 27 and 29 November 2017, respectively.

Part of ODIHR’s Words into Action to Address Anti-Semitism (WIA) project, the platform is meant to support civil society organisations throughout the OSCE region in recording and monitoring incidents of hate crimes and discrimination. Victims and witnesses will be able to submit reports directly to a local civil society organization using an online form, and civil society organizations will be able to maintain a local database of reported cases.

Seven Polish NGO representatives attended the meeting in Warsaw and nine Hungarian NGO representatives took part in the Budapest event. Three of the NGOs represented are associated with local Jewish communities in the two countries.

After receiving an overview of ODIHR’s work on hate crimes, participants were briefed on the technical aspects of the platform, including an explanation of how to customize it to their needs.

The pilot phase will last for approximately three months. The participating NGOs will provide feedback on the platform’s design and functionality, which will be used to improve the tool. The platform is planned to be made available to a broad number of civil society organizations in spring 2018.

“Once fully operational, we hope that this new tool will enhance data collection on bias-motivated incidents across the OSCE region and provide an empirical basis for civil society to advocate for better prevention and response measures,” said James Stockstill, ODIHR Adviser on Civil Society Relations.

“Our meeting showed that there is a growing need for NGOs to collaborate with each other to counter hate crime,” said Anna Zielińska of the Jewish Community of Warsaw. “The platform ODIHR is developing will strengthen the ability of civil society organizations to address this phenomenon.”