Back Eastern partnership countries discuss gender-related issues in the profession of lawyers

Eastern partnership countries discuss gender-related issues in the profession of lawyers

On 6 February an online event was organised to present the findings of the cross-country review of the impact of gender-related issues on the profession of lawyer and access to justice in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. The event gathered 62 members of the Bar Associations, judges, and other national authorities’ representatives from the five countries.

The cross-country review provides an analysis of gender-related legal frameworks of five countries benchmarking on relevant European standards and providing recommendations for improvement.

Promoting gender equality issues is among the priorities of the Council of Europe, which is reflected in the adopted gender equality strategy for 2018-2023. All regulations, policies, and programmes relevant to gender affect access to resources for women and men. This effect, known as “gender impact” and its assessment refers to analysis aimed at determining the tangible results that the intervention could have on the effective equality of women and men.

During the event, the methodology, structure, applicable standards, country-specific reviews of legislation, and statistics of representation of women in a legal profession, as well as the comparative perspective of the review were outlined.

The format of the presentation allowed the participating countries to get acquainted with the cross-country review and comment on the findings and recommendations. The final review is expected to be approved and made public by the end of February.

The event has been organised under the project “Strengthening the profession of lawyer in line with European standards” funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022.

Yerevan, online 6 February 2023
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Strasbourg, France Strasbourg, 1-2 July 2024
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Addressing hate speech and hate crime: regional gathering of the network of Equality Bodies from the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership Region

A two-day workshop on addressing hate speech and hate crime took place at the premises of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, involving Equality bodies from the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership regions.  The event supported by the EU and Council of Europe, gathered 50 representatives from both regions who discussed and exchanged on the best practices, measures and common challenges when addressing hate speech and hate crime. Through monitoring and reporting, policy advocacy, raising awareness and supporting victims equality bodies play a fundamental role in protecting human rights and ensuring that all individuals are treated equally.

In her opening remarks, Angela Longo, Head of Anti-discrimination Co-operation Unit, Council of Europe, underlined the significant progress in engaging with Equality Bodies through this network, regularly exchanging best practices and addressing the challenges of hatred and intolerance in societies. She highlighted that this new chapter of discussion delves into the grey area between hate speech and hate crime, addressing issues of incitement and biases,

Representatives from Equality Bodies had the opportunity to discuss and enhance their knowledge on the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers Recommendation to member States on combating hate crime, adopted on 7th May 2024, as well as gain a clearer understanding of EU standards in the field of hate crime. Moreover, participants engaged in exchanges with peers from the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE), who shared insights on addressing hate speech in the public discourse. The National Office Against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) in Italy provided practical examples for developing counter-narratives and raising awareness initiatives.

They also explored opportunities to advocate for legislative reform, foster multisectoral co-operation, enhance data collection, and overall improve national mechanisms to counter hate crimes.

This seminar was organised within the action “Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans” and the project “Promoting equality and non-discrimination: towards more resilient and inclusive societies” – co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe  under the joint Programmes “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” and “Partnership for Good Governance”.

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