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 Municipalities – Join the project “Building an inclusive integration approach in Finland”

Municipalities – Join the project “Building an inclusive integration approach in Finland”

The EU/CoE joint project Building an inclusive integration approach in Finland will provide technical support to the implementation of inclusive integration policies based on the Finnish Good Relations concept and the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Integration model. The aim is to improve community relations and to support better integration of migrants across society in areas such as participation, education, cultural and social life, urban planning, business, labour market, anti-discrimination and multilingualism.

The joint project will work with up to seven municipalities from across Finland to promote the implementation of local integration strategies which reflect the Good Relations principles. The participating municipalities will receive support and guidance to:

  • set up a cross-sectorial working group;
  • complete the Index and receive recommendations through the Index Report;
  • receive an “Expert Visit” and the recommendations resulting from that visit; and
  • draft a local integration strategy reflecting the Good Relations concept and following up the recommendations.

 

 Interested? The deadline for applications has been extended until 7 December 2022. 

 Find more information about the procedure and the link to apply on the project page.

 

The joint project “Building an intercultural integration approach in Finland” is co-funded by the European Commission via the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) 2022 and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities (ICC) Programme in co-operation with the European Commission and the Ministry of Justice of Finland.

30 November 2023
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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.