As part of the continued effort to fight against discrimination and hate speech in the Republic of Moldova, the Council of Europe joins forces once more with the General Police Inspectorate. This time, the aim is to develop an awareness raising campaign aiming at shading light on the most recurrent biases against vulnerable groups, fostering trust of the citizens on reporting acts motivated by prejudice to the relevant authorities and ultimately combating stigmatization.

A series of preparatory focus groups with key institutions, civil society organisations, and media representatives were conducted to converge on key messages to be included in the awareness initiatives, based on emerging needs in terms of public attitudes on discrimination related issues. Meetings also served for ensuring joint engagement in taking a stance against hatred.

As a step further, more advanced discussions engaged representatives of several target groups which are the most exposed to hate speech and acts motivated by prejudice in the Republic of Moldova, according to the monitoring reports and recent studies in this area. The objective of these focus group sessions was to create a space for brainstorming and exchanging ideas with persons who either experienced or are well aware of cases of discrimination and hate speech, in order to finalise the narratives and roadmap of this initiative.

The preparation of the raise awareness initiative will continue in the coming period. Stay connected with us to follow its public phase, unfolding as of the second half of 2025.  

This initiative is part of the programme “Partnership for Good Governance”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the project “Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova”.