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 Discrimination patterns in Serbia – discussion on the results of the discrimination surveys

Discrimination patterns in Serbia – discussion on the results of the discrimination surveys

20 March 2024, Belgrade – A discussion on discrimination patterns in Serbia, by observing the latest trends presented in the national discrimination surveys’ reports took place in Belgrade. The event brought together representatives of public institutions, equality bodies, as well as civil society representatives, media, and experts who jointly discussed the ways forward to support delivering on reforms, but also changing the mindset of people and help recognising discrimination.

The European Union and the Council of Europe are supporting the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality in its work to address discrimination in Serbia, and the efforts to develop an accurate data collection for the Commissioner’s regular surveys on the attitudes of citizens and representatives of public authorities towards discrimination.

According to the latest findings, discrimination perception has not much improved in the eye of citizens. 70% of respondents perceive that discrimination is present in the Republic of Serbia and same percentage of respondents (70%) believe that stronger efforts are needed in the fight against discrimination. Particularly pronounced are prejudices against LGBTI people. Namely, as many as a third of respondents agree with the view that homosexuality is a disease that needs to be treated, while 48% believe that LGBTI people should not enjoy the same rights as heterosexual people.

Addressing the audience in the opening part, Nadia Ćuk, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, stated: “I strongly believe that other relevant actors will find collected data useful for their future work such as to assess the effects of existing public policy measures on social groups particularly vulnerable to discrimination and provide evidence for relevant institutions to revise existing measures that contribute to structural discrimination.”.

Brankica Janković, Commissioner for Protection of Equality underscored that there was no significant reduction of discrimination and called all relevant actors to invest additional efforts to address it and improve the position of the poor, Roma and women, but also of all other citizens.

Plamena Halacheva, Deputy EU Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia emphasised that Serbia is not immune to the challenges of discrimination. Tangible improvements can only be achieved with clear political will, strong democratic institutions trusted by the citizens, prompt and adequate responses to every reported discriminatory behaviour, and the implementation of legislation in everyday life.

This event is organised by the action "Combating discrimination and promoting diversity in Serbia", implemented under the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

BELGRADE, SERBIA 20 MARCH 2024
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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.