Twenty-seven professionals from equality bodies, anti-racism institutions, and independent experts from the Western Balkans and Eastern European regions have successfully completed the Training of Trainers (ToT) on Combating Racism and Racial Discrimination, organised by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the European Union.
The concluding segment, held in Strasbourg, marked the end of a six-month blended learning journey launched in April this year and comprising several follow-up online sessions. The training, based on the ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 7 and the EU Anti-Racism Action Plan, was designed to prepare participants to become anti-racism local tutors.
The newly certified trainers will now roll out training sessions for civil servants based on Council of Europe’s online course Combating Racism and Racial Discrimination, which has been translated and into eight languages and adapted to the Beneficiaries’ legal and institutional contexts. This will ensure that the principles of equality, inclusion, and non-discrimination are firmly embedded in public administration across the region.
Throughout the programme, participants developed both substantive knowledge on international and European anti-discrimination standards and technical skills for online tutoring. During the final in-person session, they reflected on their learning experience, shared good practices, and discussed practical challenges for implementing the domestic versions of the course for civil servants in their respective Beneficiaries. Trainers also received additional guidance from the HELP Programme on how to effectively use online learning tools within the Council of Europe’s education platforms.
In a closing ceremony, Council of Europe officials presented certificates of completion to the new trainers, highlighting that their work will help bring human-rights education closer to public institutions and contribute to more inclusive and resilient societies across their regions.
This activity is organised within the project “Promoting equality and non-discrimination: towards more resilient and inclusive societies” and the action “Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans”, which are part the joint European Union and Council of Europe programmes “Partnership for Good Governance” and “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.
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