Inclusion and anti-discrimination programmes

The Council of Europe's Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Programmes Division carries out activities to ensure genuine equality and full access to rights and opportunities for all members of society.

The Division is composed of four Units, offering concrete and tested solutions to governmental and non-governmental partners in member States to strenghten inclusion and address discrimination and inequality that undermine the enjoyment of human rights and democracy by everyone:

Back Addressing hate speech in Montenegro: findings from second round of group interviews with civil society organisations, media, and government representative

Addressing hate speech in Montenegro: findings from second round of group interviews with civil society organisations, media, and government representative

An open discussion and group interviews involving various stakeholders among which civil society organisations, media, and government representative, took place in Podgorica on 15 March.

As a follow up of the first round held in October 2023, this round of interviews has expanded the number of actors involved in collecting inputs, suggestions, and analyses on hate speech in Montenegro, aiming to create a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon at national level. This collaborative effort, led by the European Union and the Council of Europe, alongside Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) and the Ombudsperson Office, marked the continuation of an extensive hate speech mapping endeavor for Montenegro, slated to continue for the whole 2024, developing a national roadmap, guiding the future strategies and policies aimed at combating hate speech in Montenegro.

The discussion began by dissecting the global definition and traits of hate speech, referring to the General Recommendation No. 15 of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) as a starting point for a deeper analysis. Participants shared real-life examples and engaged in dialogue with experts, aiming to understand and address the challenge of combating hate speech in Montenegro. The event served as a forum for constructive dialogue and knowledge exchange among different stakeholders whose experiences provided a multifaceted understanding of the issue of hate speech in Montenegro.

The insights learned from these engagements, coupled with ongoing workshops and research endeavors, including incident analysis, will culminate in a comprehensive examination of the phenomenon.  Employing a blend of focus groups, workshops, and rigorous research, the mapping exercise endeavors to analyze causes, expressions, and impacts of hate speech in Montenegro, aligning with the definition outlined in the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers Recommendation on Combating Hate Speech from 2022. 

The initiative was supported by the European Union and the Council of Europe, through the joint action "Combating hatred and intolerance in Montenegro", implemented within the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO 15 MARCH
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 The four Units' activities are directly based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the recommendations and findings of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (AC/FCNM), and the Committee of Experts of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages, as well as relevant Committee of Ministers Recommendations.

 

 The approach of the Division is to establish a direct link between standards, the monitoring processes, the intergovernmental work, such as the Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CDADI) and the implementation of co-operation activities. This allows to identify weaknesses in the implementation of standards where technical cooperation activities can be helpful.

 

 The Division works closely with the existing networks of equality bodies and national human rights structures (ombudsmen and national human rights institutions); other Council of Europe monitoring bodies (such as European Committee of Social Rights, the Group of experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) and their secretariats; European networks of NGO’s and national civil society platforms; and international actors, such as the EU Commission and its Agencies (including the Fundamental Rights Agency), the UN agencies (such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme) and the OSCE/ODIHR.

Division units
ICC

ICC

ICC

The Intercultural Cities Programme (ICC) supports local and regional authorities in reviewing their policies through an intercultural lens and developing comprehensive intercultural strategies to ensure real equality, meaningful intercultural interaction, and positive diversity management to realise the diversity advantage.

Anti-Discrimination Cooperation and Hate Speech, Hate Crime and Artificial Intelligence Units

Anti-Discrimination Cooperation and Hate Speech, Hate Crime and Artificial Intelligence Units

Anti-Discrimination Cooperation and Hate Speech, Hate Crime and Artificial Intelligence Units

The Anti-Discrimination Cooperation (ADCU) and Hate Speech, Hate Crime and Artificial Intelligence (HSCU) Units run extensive programmes of cooperation activities to help combat discrimination, hate speech and hate crime, as well as support the empowerment of minorities, the positive management of diversity and respect of human rights, including in the deployment of digital technologies, algorithmic and artificial intelligence systems.

SOGIESC

SOGIESC

SOGIESC

The Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Caracteristics Unit (SOGIESC) offers tailor made activities aiming to combat discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics, including technical support and expertise to member states to improve their legal and institutional framework, capacity building, sharing of good practices, and awareness raising.