Horizontal Facility - News
Sustaining progress: European Union and Council of Europe extend their commitment in Pristina to strengthen justice, fight discrimination and improve freedom of expression
The European Union and the Council of Europe have been providing tailor-made support to Kosovo* towards the advancement of strategic reforms in the areas of human rights and the rule of law and further alignment with relevant European standards. Thanks to the co-operation under the joint...
Support to the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina with improving the human rights of LGBTI persons in line with European standards
At the 54th session, held on 27 July 2022, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the proposal of the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, adopted the Action Plan to improve the state of human rights and fundamental freedoms of LGBTI people in Bosnia...
European Union and Council of Europe supporting women’s access to justice in Türkiye: International conference held in Ankara
An international conference in Ankara on 27 November brought together key representatives of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, the Presidents of eight local bar associations (from Adıyaman, Malatya, Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Sinop, Bilecik, Bursa, Tunceli) and representatives of the Council of...
Empowering media pluralism: Key media actors in Serbia chart a course for the study of information disorder
Through the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the key media actors in Serbia discussed and provided inputs to the future research on information disorder, as a part of their efforts to to enhance information pluralism, counter disinformation, and safeguard the principles of...
Social media literacy in schools discussed in Podgorica
Around 30 teachers came together for a course on "Social media literacy as a key competence of democratic citizenship in schools" held on 25 November 2023 in Podgorica. The course aimed to address the critical role of social media literacy and how competences for democratic culture might...
The National Commission on the fight against trafficking in North Macedonia and its Sub-group on child protection enhance their strategic planning
The National Commission on the fight against trafficking in human beings in North Macedonia and its Sub-group on child trafficking prevention successfully completed the preparation of their respective action and operational plans. It is expected that they will enhance compliance with the...
Institutions of Montenegro send a strong message of zero tolerance of all forms of ill-treatment and impunity
A roundtable, organised under the action “Enhancing human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons”, convened in Budva on 22 – 23 November, gathered key investigating bodies in Montenegro to identify systemic shortcomings and collaboratively explore optimal solutions for the...
Albanian authorities assisted in the process of improving the draft-law on the establishment of Asset Recovery Office in Albania
The EU and Council of Europe joint Action against Economic Crime in Albania in close collaboration with the Ministry of Interior, is contributing to the improvement of the draft-law on the establishment of the Asset Recovery Office (ARO) in Albania in compliance with international and European...
Belgian best practices for a sustainable management of shelters for victims of human trafficking shared with the anti-trafficking actors in North Macedonia
Providing shelter and psycho-social services to victims of human trafficking is a key to their mental stabilisation and successful resocialisation. The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) in its third monitoring report on North Macedonia tackled the challenges...
IT equipment provided to Serbian institutions and civil society organisation for combating trafficking in human beings
The joint European Union/Council of Europe action “Strengthening anti-trafficking action in Serbia” donated laptops, computers, and printers to the National Anti-trafficking Co-ordination Office (Ministry of the Interior), National Rapporteur on trafficking in human beings (Ombudsperson office),...
MEDIA ADVISORY: International conference on fostering women’s access to justice in Türkiye
An “International conference on women’s access to justice in Türkiye” will take place at the Av. Özdemir Özok Convention and Cultural Centre of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations in Ankara (Oğuzlar Mahallesi Barış Manço Caddesi Av. Özdemir Özok Sokak No:8 06520 Balgat/Çankaya) from 09:30 on...
60th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia marked in Belgrade
The joint European Union and Council of Europe action "Strengthening human rights protection in Serbia" supported the Constitutional Court in marking 60 years of its work. More than 100 participants, including representatives from constitutional courts across Europe, judge of the European Court...
From legislation to practice: Study of Serbia's Regulatory Authority legal framework and its alignment with European standards, published in Serbian and English language
Through the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media in Serbia (REM) was provided with analysis of the requirements of the Audio-visual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), and emerging EU legislation such as the Digital Services Act and...
Rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners: practitioners from Western Balkans learn from the experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Representatives of the ministries of justice and prison administrations from Albania, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia visited the High Security State Prison and the Centre for Social Welfare - Municipality Jajce in Bosnia and Herzegovina to exchange good practices in preparation...
Non-governmental Organisations in the Western Balkans gather to address women’s access to justice, in line with European standards
Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) from the Western Balkans joined the Council of Europe teams working on gender equality, anti-discrimination, children’s rights and civil society to identify strategic areas and methods for local NGOs to interact with legal professionals on tackling barriers...
A new cycle of the HELP course on anti-discrimination with the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors in North Macedonia succesfully completed
After the success of the three HELP courses on anti-discrimination with lawyers and legal professionals and one HELP course on anti-discrimination with the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors in both phases, the joint EU and Council of Europe Action Combating Hatred and Intolerance in North...
PRESS RELEASE
Improving court’s performance through user satisfaction surveys: new online system launched in Vlora
Court users in Vlora will now have the possibility to evaluate the quality and efficiency of Courts’ performance, based on their individual experiences. A web-based court user satisfaction system was presented today to key representatives from the justice institutions, civil society and media, in...
Croatian best practices on anti-discrimination shared with the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination
Representatives from the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination in North Macedonia met their counterparts in Republic of Croatia in a study visit which aimed to share experiences and learn more about their approach regarding prevention and protection against...
Call for Tenders: Purchase of local consultancy services in the field of freedom of expression and of the media in Albania
In the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” (Horizontal Facility III), the Council of Europe is currently implementing the action on “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in Albania” (PRO-FREX). In that context,...
Prosecutors and police representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina trained on standards on protection from hate speech
38 representatives of prosecutorial offices as well as police forces from Bosnia and Herzegovina, received the training on domestic and European legal standards on protection from hate speech. Through the presentations of the relevant practice of the European Court of Human Rights and a case...
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