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• I am extremely pleased to welcome you all at this crucial point in the Istanbul Convention’s history, the first meeting of GREVIO - your first meeting.

• Just over a year ago, during a conference in Rome, we celebrated the entry into force of the Istanbul Convention, which is a source of great pride for the Council of Europe.

• Some of you were there and took part in this event. You may remember that member states not only committed to zero tolerance of violence against women and domestic violence, but also to the effective implementation of the Istanbul Convention.

• The Rome conference therefore also marked the beginning of the setting-up of a monitoring mechanism. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe placed particular emphasis on the competence, independence, availability and language skills of future GREVIO members when adopting the election procedure. And that was clearly in the minds of the members of the Committee of the Parties when they elected you, the first members of GREVIO, in May 2015.

• Today, the work begins. Millions of victims continue to suffer from various forms of violence in Europe and beyond, simply because they are women and girls. Millions of victims continue to suffer from violence on the part of someone they trust, at home or elsewhere. We – you – are here to make a difference for them.

• GREVIO is, in many ways, the conscience of the Istanbul Convention. It is the Council of Europe’s watchdog in the area of violence against women and domestic violence. As such, it will play a vital role in translating what has been a ground-breaking legal instrument into the laws and practices of member states.

• The expectations are high and the challenges, numerous. And the credibility of GREVIO rests on your capacity to identify where the problems actually are – on the ground – and to drive forward real and tangible change.

• Your extensive knowledge of the Convention’s standards, the rich diversity of your fields of expertise, your practical experience, your independence and your firm commitment will be of paramount importance in GREVIO following the path of other Council of Europe monitoring bodies, including, for example, the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA).

• But I want to assure you that you will not be left alone in fulfilling these aims. I am confident that there will be enough political support. The Committee of the Parties took the firm commitment last May to follow up on your findings, supervise recommendations based on your future reports and interact whenever necessary with the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

• I also believe that you will have the backing you need from other Council of Europe bodies, other international and regional treaty-based bodies, parliamentary structures, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organisations and other civil society actors.

• And, last but not least, I assure that you will benefit from the support of the Secretary General – who is only absent today because he is travelling; of myself; and of a highly qualified and committed team of staff members in the Secretariat. We will make sure you have the resources you need to to carry out your work.

• You will take some important decisions during this meeting, with the adoption of GREVIO’s rules of procedure. These rules will govern the functioning of GREVIO, the country-by-country evaluation procedure and the special inquiry procedure.

• It is now up to you and all of us to make the monitoring of the Istanbul Convention progressive, responsive, credible and effective. I wish you every success in your challenging but, I trust, ultimately rewarding mission.