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Promoting Yezidi girls’ and women’s right to education in Armenia

Yezidi girls and women constitute the most vulnerable segment of this group in Armenia and usually they do not continue education after completing secondary education.

The NGO Armavir Development Center from Armenia, based in the city of Armavir where a large Yazidi community lives, is implementing a project with the aim of empowering young Yezidi girls to continue their education and raise their voice over the period of December 2021-April 2022. This project is carried out with the support of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programme Partnership for Good Governance, and its regional project “Strengthening access to justice for victims of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Eastern Partnership.

The core objectives of the project are as follows:

  • raise Yezidi students’, girls’ and parents’ awareness on the importance of education and learning, as well as promote human rights and fundamental freedoms;
  • build capacities and facilitate the horizontal cooperation of local authorities, social workers, school administration and teachers to ensure the access of education of Yezidi girls mobilising against discrimination and further violations of the girls rights;
  • build the capacities of 20 teachers on promoting inclusive and quality education for all.

The project will be implemented in 5 rural communities of Armavir, where the number of Yezidi people is high. The project-related activities will target Yezidi girls, their parents, teachers and representatives from civil society organizations and local authorities.  The long-term impacts of the project are expected to be the change in the attitude and perception of target groups towards the realisation of the right to education of Yezidi girls and women; the reduction in the number of girls removed from educational institutions; and improved knowledge of the issue of the concerned stakeholders, direct and indirect beneficiaries.

This project is one of the six civil society supported by the European Union/Council of Europe regional anti-discrimination project, in Armenia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine aimed at increasing access to justice for groups that experience discrimination, hate speech and hate crime.

This activity is implemented in the framework of the regional project “Strengthening access to justice for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in the Eastern Partnership,” 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.

Armenia 21 December 2021
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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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