In the efforts to assist the public authorities in North Macedonia to achieve greater compliance with European standards in the field of fighting discrimination and protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, the EU and Council of Europe Horizontal Facility II joint programme is supporting the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to integrate the recommendations from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) in the country reforms and policies in the field of anti-discrimination.

With the support of the joint action “Promotion of diversity and equality in North Macedonia”, key expertise and knowledge has been provided – including the former Chair of ECRI, Christian Ahlund. The experts were working closely with beneficiaries for the preparation of the National Report on the status of implementation of the ECRI recommendations for North Macedonia which will provide important information on the progress made so far and an overview of the areas in which there is more work to be done.

In the process of finalising the report, a consultative meeting between the Council of Europe experts and the National Coordination Body on Anti-Discrimination was organized, receiving additional inputs, important information and answers from the participants. The National Coordination Body on Anti-Discrimination is composed of relevant public institutions, NGOs, and international organisations working in the field of anti-discrimination and human rights protection.

The meeting was an opportunity to take stock on different views and remarks shared from the participants, contributing to further align the ongoing reforms in the field of human rights protection in North Macedonia with the European standards and values and strengthening the efforts of the local authorities to combat discrimination and racism.

The Action Promotion of Diversity and Equality in North Macedonia is part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022.