Back Third mentoring programme cycle on women’s access to justice launched for legal professionals from the Eastern Partnership countries

Third mentoring programme cycle on women’s access to justice launched for legal professionals from the Eastern Partnership countries

The year-long mentoring programme for legal professionals on women’s access to justice was initiated with a training in Budapest on 5-7 September, with 24 mentors from the Eastern Partnership countries.

Over the course of three days, judges, prosecutors and other legal professionals from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine advanced their knowledge of relevant European gender equality standards and increased their mentoring skills.

Participants discussed challenges and opportunities to encourage legal professionals to put on their “gender glasses” and find ways to effectively embed mentoring in the justice sector, as a method for learning and advancing competencies.

The gathering also served as an opportunity to exchange experiences across the Eastern Partnership region and build professional connections on human rights issues in general.

This training activity marks the beginning of the third mentoring programme cycle on women’s access to justice for legal professionals from the Eastern Partnership countries, which has already resulted in a network of almost 800 individuals. The established network is championing gender equality issues in courts, prosecution offices and judicial training institutions across the region.

This activity was organised in the framework of the project “Women's Access to Justice: implementing Council of Europe’s gender equality and violence against women standards”, part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Partnership for Good Governance”.

Budapest 7 September 2023
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page
Strasbourg, France Strasbourg, 1-2 July 2024
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page
  • Imprimer en PDF
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”.

Follow us on social media