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 Working with Milano Welcome Center and SUAM Rome to facilitate integration of migrants at local level in Italy

Working with Milano Welcome Center and SUAM Rome to facilitate integration of migrants at local level in Italy

Two one stop shop services – the Milano Welcome Center and the Sportello Unico per l’accoglienza migranti (SUAM) in Rome – were involved in a series of thematic meetings aiming at developing a model for one-stop-shop services with with enhanced capacity to address the needs of migrants in Italy.

The meetings, six in total, took place from mid-December 2024 to the first week of February 2025. Facilitated by Council of Europe experts, these events joined together staff and partners of the one stop shops to exchange and discuss on three main topics: organisation, management and structure of the one stop shops; services offered; impact on migrants integration and future perspectives.

The One stop shops for the integration of migrants have different features in terms of size, services offered, target groups, outreach, but they can all be defined as places where multiple services are offered, allowing customers to access these services under one roof, in a centralized location rather than in different places. The Milano Welcome Center and the SUAM were selected as they represent relevant and well-known best practices in this regard.

Results of the discussions held during the six meetings will be presented to a variety of stakeholders, including Italian one stop shops, local and regional authorities and civil society organisations, during an online meeting planned to take place on 4 March 2025. Feedback collected during this online event will be integrated in the model that will be used to enhance the capacity of Italian one stop shops.

The meetings were organised within the project Reinforcing multi-level policy coordination for integration in Italy, co-funded by the European Union through the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) and implemented by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies.

Milan and Rome, Italy DECEMBER 2024 - FEBRUARY 2025
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 These 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 this work 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 Council of Europe 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.

Country Cooperation and Hate Speech and Hate Crime Units

Country Cooperation and Hate Speech and Hate Crime Units

Country Cooperation and Hate Speech and Hate Crime Units

The Country Cooperation and Hate Speech and Hate Crime 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.