Back Combating discrimination and hate speech in the Western Balkans - joining forces with institutions and with civil society

Combating discrimination and hate speech in the Western Balkans - joining forces with institutions and with civil society

The joint EU/Council of Europe programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022", building on the earlier Actions in the field of minority protection and promotion of rights of LGBTI persons, includes a new component related to promotion of diversity and equality covering the entire Western Balkan region. Throughout September, October and November, the first steering committees took place in Sarajevo, Podgorica, Tirana, Pristina and Skopje, convening relevant beneficiaries and partners and officially marking the start of activities. The projects are set to place at the disposal of the region the expertise and/or recommendations from Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, those stemming from the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and in the field of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

The steering committees and the discussions thereby confirmed the need to continue assisting the beneficiary institutions, central and local ones, to improve their record of protecting discrimination and strengthen related mechanisms and inter-institutional coordination. A strong focus will be put on legal and strategic assistance in responding to hate speech and hate crime, as well as on enhancing rights of LGBTI persons and those of minorities. Accent will be put on involving the civil society and the local institutions, to better reach out to the local level and the citizens, including by means of sub-grants for local actions. When it comes to fighting hate speech, these partnerships should lead to forms of counter-narratives going beyond institutional responses.

The actions will be parallel to a regional one, focusing on common challenges to all Beneficiaries, especially on how equality bodies in the region respond to hate speech and protect victims, and how law enforcement interact with the LGBTI population and NGOs at the central and local level.

Leading partners will be respectively the government bodies in charge of coordinating human rights policies, as well as equality bodies. The actions on ‘Promotion of diversity and equality in the Western Balkans’ will be implemented by the Anti-discrimination Department of the Council of Europe for a total of 36 months, until May 2022, as a part of the joint EU and Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II.

Western Balkans 26 November 2019
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page

Projekti

Tema I: Osnaživanje pravde

  • Jačanje kvaliteta i efikasnosti pravosuđa na Kosovu  (KoSEJ III)

Tema III: Borba protiv diskriminacije i zaštita prava osjetljivih grupa

  • Borba protiv diskriminacije i mržnje

Tema IV: Promovisanje i zaštita slobode izražavanja i slobode medija

  • Zaštita slobode izražavanja i slobode medija (PRO-FREX)

*Ovaj naziv je bez prejudiciranja statusa, i u skladu je sa Rezolucijom Savjeta bezbjednosti Ujedinjenih nacija 1244 i mišljenjem Međunarodnog suda pravde o Deklaraciji o nezavisnosti Kosova.