News
New Council of Europe publication on action against female genital mutilation and forced marriage
The Council of Europe Steering Committee for Human Rights published the result of its activities on combating and preventing female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage. The publication includes the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on the need to intensify the efforts to prevent...
Safeguarding human rights in the era of artificial intelligence
The use of artificial intelligence in our everyday lives is on the increase, and it now covers many fields of activity. Something as seemingly banal as avoiding a traffic jam through the use of a smart navigation system, or receiving targeted offers from a trusted retailer is the result of big...
Greece: immediate action needed to protect human rights of migrants
“The humanity and hospitality that Greece’s people and authorities demonstrated towards migrants in recent years is truly commendable. In spite of these efforts, however, the situation remains worrying and much more needs to be done to protect the human rights of those who have had to flee their...
The Commissioner for Human Rights calls on the Estonian authorities to step up their efforts to tackle gender stereotypes and prejudices about the role of women in society, which foster attitudes conducive to violence against women
Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, carried out a five-day visit to Estonia in June 2018. She highlighted that “Estonia should combat discrimination and abuses against older persons, tackle the gender pay gap and violence against women”. Commissioner Mijatović...
Workshop on the Istanbul Convention and its monitoring mechanism held in Georgia
The Council of Europe together with the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia organised a workshop on the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (known as the Istanbul Convention) and its monitoring mechanism in Tbilisi, Georgia on 19...
Launch of the Croatian translation of the CoE Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023
Zagreb, 12 June 2018 - The Office for Gender Equality of the Republic of Croatia organised in the national Parliament the presentation and distribution of the Croatian edition of the Council of Europe Strategy for Gender Equality (2018 to 2023). The event took place in the framework of Croatia’s...
Project on combating violence against women launched in Armenia
"The idea of preventing violence against women and domestic violence is not western imposed nor is it culturally distinct. Violence, be that against women, children or any human being, is legally — and more importantly, morally — reprehensive. Societies and governments cannot have double or...
Georgian authorities visited Spain to exchange views on combating violence against women
On 5–6 June, members of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, the Department of Human Rights Protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, as well as selected Georgian prosecutors travelled to Madrid (Spain) for an exchange of views with key Spanish government officials on how to...
Second Working Group Meeting for developing the HELP course on Ensuring Women’s Access to Justice
The second working group for the development of a HELP course (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) on Ensuring Women’s Access to Justice took place on 30-31 May 2018 in Strasbourg. It brought together a group of three legal experts with the e-learning designer, the regional project...
Call for gender equality initiatives at the World Forum for Democracy 2018
The World Forum for Democracy (WFD) is a platform for dialogue and democratic innovation which brings new ideas into the work of the Council of Europe and promotes its principles across the world. The 2018 World Forum for Democracy will take place in Strasbourg on 19-21 November 2018. This year,...
Successful launch of the Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023
On 3 and 4 May, in Copenhagen, the Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023, was launched at the international conference “Gender Equality: Paving the Way”, organised in the framework of the Danish Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The conference...
Mobilising men and boys for gender equality: “Barbershop event” during PACE spring session (Thursday 26 April 2018)
The Barbershop event aims at engaging in a discussion on how men can join women in advancing gender equality and combating sexism. Participants will be asked to recognise, explore, and challenge harmful gender stereotypes - including those specific to manhood and masculinity - which prevent us...
13th meeting of the Gender Equality Commission
The Council of Europe Gender Equality Commission (GEC) discussed a forthcoming conference to launch the new Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023, and the ongoing work of the Drafting Committee preparing a Committee of Minister’s recommendation to prevent and combat sexism. It...
HELP Course on Women’s Access to Justice – Working Group Meeting
A new e-learning course on women’s access to justice is being developed and will provide a tool for the promotion of gender-sensitive justice in the Council of Europe member states. On 28-29 March 2018, a group of experts from the United Kingdom, Georgia and the Republic Moldova came together...
Thematic visit to Finland on Roma and Traveller’s access to justice (with a focus on women)
Experts of the Council of Europe Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on Roma and Traveller Issues (CAHROM) from Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Romania and Spain met in Helsinki (Finland) on 21-23 March 2018 to exchange with the national co-ordinators of the Joint Programme “JUSTROM” on Roma...
Fighting Violence against Women in Slovenia: launch of HELP course
The Council of Europe, in collaboration with the Slovenian Judicial Training Centre, launched the HELP course on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in Ljubljana on 22 March 2018. Nataša Skubic, Head of Continuous Training Department of the Judicial Training Centre, opened the event...
Council of Europe launches new webpage on gender mainstreaming
The new webpage on gender mainstreaming showcases the work of the Council of Europe to integrate a gender equality perspective in a wide range of areas. The pages presents 15 thematic sections (e.g. terrorism, sport, justice, audio-visual policy). It also provides comprehensive information ...
Council of Europe event at CSW on « Addressing sexism: speaking up, preventing, co-operating »
The Council of Europe and the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations organised a side-event at the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62). The aims were to raise awareness and knowledge of the Council of Europe standards and action to tackle sexism, to encourage...
8 March: Strong gender equality messages from the Council of Europe
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has appealed to all member States “to turn the current momentum into action and to bridge gender gaps and structural barriers in order to achieve the full empowerment of every girl and woman”. One of the objectives of the current Danish...
The Council of Europe adopts its Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023
On 7 March 2018, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers adopted the new Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023. The Strategy renews the Organisation’s commitment to address current and emerging challenges and remove barriers towards achieving substantive and full gender...
