Newsroom
Expert Council on NGO Law publishes a Review on NGO Participation in Policy Development
The Expert Council on NGO Law of the Council of Europe published a review that examines practices related to participation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in policy development in the member States of the Council of Europe (CoE). It is conducted against the background of standards and...
Opinion on the compatibility with European standards of recent and planned amendments to the Russian legislation affecting NGOs
Expert Council on NGO Law calls upon Russian authorities not to adopt planned amendments to legislation affecting NGOs
The Expert Council has prepared an opinion examining the compatibility with European standards of the main changes in recently adopted and planned legislative provisions with respect to the functioning and activities of NGOs in Russia. The changes involve extending the scope of the category of...
Call for applications
Be a "youth delegate" with the Conference of INGOs for 2021
In line with its “Roadmap for youth participation”, the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe will invite 3 young persons, representing their member INGO, to Strasbourg (France), to take an active part, as a youth delegate, in its coming activities, contribute to the work and statutory...
World NGO Day 2021
Watch the full webinar: Challenges Facing NGOs in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations
On 26 February, the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe organised a webinar entitled 'Challenges Facing NGOs in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' to celebrate World NGO Day and pay tribute to the work of civil society that is focused on Human Rights, reconciliation and the Rule of...
World NGO Day 2021
Webinar: Challenges Facing NGOs in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations
On the occasion of World NGO Day, the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe is organising a webinar entitled 'Challenges Facing NGOs in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' on 26 February (10.00 to 13.00 CET) to pay tribute to the work of civil society that is focused on Human Rights,...
Exchange of views between the President of the Conference of INGOs and the Ministers' Deputies
The President of the Conference of INGOs held her last exchange of views with the Ministers’ Deputies on 20 January 2021. Almost twenty Permanent Representations welcomed the reform carried out by the Conference of INGOs last December and made the link between this reform and the dynamics of the...
Rules of Procedure of the Conference of INGOs
Register to vote and be part of the future
Dear INGOs, We are approaching the second part of the autumn session during which the Conference of INGOs will decide on its Rules of Procedure, that is to say on how its bodies and members will work together to respond to global challenges, following the main orientations and dynamic of the...
Opinion on the Compatibility with European Standards of Recent and Planned Amendments to the Greek Legislation on NGO Registration
Expert Council on NGO Law calls for the revocation of the Greek Ministerial Decision 10616/2020 on NGOs
The Expert Council on NGO Law has issued an Addendum to its 2 July 2020 Opinion on Greek Legislation on the registration and certification of Greek and foreign NGOs engaged in activities related to asylum, migration, and social inclusion. The Addendum focuses on Greek Ministerial Decision...
Declaration of the Standing Committee of the Conference of INGOs on Women's Reproductive Rights in Poland
On October 22, 2020, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Poland declared that the law of January 7, 1993 on “family planning, the protection of the human foetus and the conditions for carrying out the termination of pregnancy” [1] is contrary to the Constitution. This passage through the...
Civil society in dialogue: webinar on diversity
Diversity in the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe
Following the first part of our Session, the Conference of INGOs' "2020-2021 Youth Delegates Programme" invites you to take part in an online dialogue on diversity in the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe on 10 November 2020. Please join this conversation and provide your input! See...
Open letter from the delegates of the Conference of INGOs’ Youth Programme
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The escalating tension around Nagorno-Karabakh has seriously impacted regional stability, something that worries all countries around the globe. We, as delegates of the Conference of INGOs’ Youth Programme, would like to express our distress regarding this escalation of violence and the armed...
Statement by the President of the Conference of INGOs
Acts of hatred have no place in a democratic society
As President of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, I condemn the terrorist attack that took place on Friday 16 October in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (France). My thoughts go first and foremost to the family and friends of the victim, Mr Samuel Paty, a historty and geography teacher...
Statement by Anna Rurka regarding the case of Xanthi Turkish Union (Tourkiki Enosi Xanthis)
On freedom of association in Greece
As President of the Council of Europe’s Conference of INGOs, I recall that the lawful free activity of civil society is essential for democracy. As the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission noted in an opinion concerning NGOs, the right to freedom of association is “a unique human right whose...
15-16 October 2020
Online Session of the Conference of INGOs
The first part of the autumn session of the Conference of INGOs took place online on 15-16 October. The second part on 15-16 December. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe addressed the Conference at the opening of the plenary meeting on 15 October and the Deputy Secretary General, as...
Access to social and medico-social services for ALL: a springboard out of poverty
Webinar - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Every year, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October, the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe expresses its concern that people living in poverty should have full access to social rights. This year, through the Conference of INGOs transversal...
Statement by the Migration Task Force of the Conference of INGOs
Island of Lesbos: humanitarian and political emergency
The fire in the Registration and Identification Centre of Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos is indicative of a situation that is getting worse by the day. The Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, through its Migration Task Force, vehemently expresses its indignation at the deplorable...
Statement by the Human Rights Committee of the Conference of INGOs
Belarusian Presidential Elections: There is no peaceful future without truth, trust and reconciliation
The Human Rights Committee of the Conference of INGOs supports the peaceful protesters in Belarus and calls for TRUTH, TRUST AND RECONCILIATION. As the Foreign Affairs Ministers of European Union underlined, the Belarusian Presidential elections that took place on 9 August “were neither free nor...
Statement by the President of the Conference of INGOs
The proposed amendments to the Non-Profit Legal Entitites Act in Bulgaria give rise for concern
I am very concerned to learn about the proposed amendments to the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act under consideration, which would create a very hostile environment for those civil society organisations with public benefit status that are in receipt of foreign funding. In particular, I am concerned...
Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference of INGOs
Amendments to Greek legislation on NGO registration
The Expert Council on NGO Law publishes its opinion on the recently adopted and planned measures that affect NGOs working in Greece on asylum, migration, and social inclusion. The Expert Council found the measures to be an excessive interference with the legitimate activities of NGOs working on...
Report published following the visit of the Conference of INGOs to Armenia
The Conference of INGOs is publishing a report on its official visit to Armenia held on 27-29 November 2019. During the visit, the hosting organisation, the Federation of Youth Clubs of Armenia (FYCA), organised two meetings with more than 50 NGOs: human and civil rights organisations, lawyers...
