On 1 and 2 June, a delegation of the Conference of INGOs met with Polish NGOs and public authorities in Warsaw to discuss NGO participation in the decision-making process.
The report of the visit will be available in in September. However, as of now, the Conference urges the governmental authorities, to take a clear and strong position against hate speech, of which some NGOs, their members, as well as individual persons are victim.
The Conference would also like to underline that the equal treatment of associations concerns also their access to public funding. The reasons for refusing or granting funding must be substantial and respectful of pluralism and political opinions expressed by NGOs. These principles are enounced in the joint OSCE/ODIHR-Venice Commission Guidelines on Freedom of Association (2015).
The effectiveness of public consultations in the legislative process, the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of minorities and of migrants must constitute another priority.
The Conference of INGOs thanks participants for the very constructive meetings.