The Council of Europe’s commitment to human rights in Europe  through supporting civil society was recently demonstrated through a gathering of EEA and Norway Grants’ Civil Society Fund Operators from 14 countries, held in January 2026 at the Financial Mechanism Office in Brussels. In discussions with CSO Fund Operators, Council of Europe outlined practical cooperation under the Grants to strengthen democracy, protect human rights, and support rule of law.

Three mission-driven initiatives received special attention:

• Pathways to end Violence against Women: The Pathways Initiative offers expert advice and support to help countries prevent and combat violence against women and promote gender equality.  Pathways also reinforces the SYNERGY Network, connecting programme operators and project promoters in 15 countries to add to capacities, share experience and coordinate action on gender-based violence against women.
• Enhancing Multi-stakeholder Responses to Hate Speech and Hate Crime: This initiative supports public authorities and civil society organisations to counter hate crimes, online hate speech and disinformation about targeted groups, including by using human rights and fact-based narratives. It provides networking and training opportunities, policy advice, resources and guidance, with the aim of building safer, more inclusive communities.
• RESIST – Strengthening Resilience to Disinformation: This project helps countries  prepare national strategies across key policy areas including media, media and information literacy, education, culture and youth participation, to enable societies to resist manipulative and false narratives that undermine democratic values. RESIST promotes peer learning for strengthening policies and tailored capacity building for reinforcing critical thinking to protect the integrity of information and democracy.

The Council of Europe encouraged civil society groups to access resources, expert guidance, and opportunities for international cooperation, such as working groups, thematic conferences, study visits, and contributions to reports.

The meetings reinforced the importance of the EEA Civil Society Fund, which supports civil society involvement in advocacy, civic education, capacity building, and research. The Council of Europe remains dedicated to advancing human rights across all beneficiary countries, working in partnership with the EEA and Norway Grants.

See more:

  Civil Society Fund of the EEA and Norway Grants

  Pathways to end Violence against Women

  Enhancing Multi-stakeholder Responses to Hate Speech and Hate Crime

 RESIST – Strengthening Resilience to Disinformation

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