Achievements and future activities on anti-discrimination and combating hate speech were in the focus of the Fourth Steering Committee meeting of the action “Combating hatred and intolerance in North Macedonia“ . The meeting gathered beneficiaries, partners and stakeholders to discuss and exchange on the newest developments in the field of antidiscrimination and combating hate speech and agreeing on and future co-operation and initiatives of the joint EU and Council of Europe action.

The members of the Steering Committee had a very productive and fruitful discussion on the need of continuing and strengthening the capacities of different key actors when it comes to anti-discrimination and hate speech and committed to boost co-operation on the upcoming activities and initiatives in the efforts to improve the record of fighting discrimination, hate speech and hate crime in North Macedonia.   Beneficiaries shared some of the notable results and activities in the context of the implementation of the action such as the support for the Skopje PRIDE, two small grants on combating hate speech and assistance to the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination to advance protection from discrimination in line with European standards. Participants stressed the importance of the support for establishing a network for dialogue and multistakeholder co-operation on combating hate speech, to provide a platform for institutions and civil society organisations to work together to overcome challenges.

The action “Combating hatred and intolerance in North Macedonia” is part of the “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Türkiye”, joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe. It aims to support institutions’ efforts and reforms to develop harmonised institutional approach to tackle discrimination and hate speech.