The launching meeting of the CoE-FRA-ENNHRI-EQUINET Collaborative Platform on social and economic rights is a follow-up activity to the joint conference of the Council of Europe (CoE), the European Network of Equality Bodies (EQUINET), the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which took place in Vienna in October 2013. On that occasion, representatives from national, European and international human rights and equality bodies reiterated their commitment to work together to strengthen the protection of human rights in Europe. It was agreed to focus on establishing four platforms for collaboration on:
- asylum and migration,
- Roma integration,
- combating hate crime,
- advancing social and economic rights and socio-economic equality.
The main objective of the Platform on Social and Economic Rights is to help reinforce the effectiveness of the standards for national bodies and contribute to finding responses to fundamental rights challenges in Europe, including coordinated action on regional policies.
The launch event focused on the development of tools for further co-operation and exchange of information and good practice between the partners concerned. The participants discussed also the possibility to develop concrete cooperation activities, such as trainings and awareness raising activities in order to address current challenges in promoting and protecting fundamental social rights.
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