From 12 to 15 May 2025, the Council of Europe, within joint EU-Council of Europe project “Support for implementing European standards relating to anti-discrimination and rights of national minorities in Ukraine” conducted an intensive four-day training for regional representatives of the National Police of Ukraine on combating discrimination, addressing hate crimes and hate speech, as well as promoting inclusive approaches in communication with the public.
The event brought together police officers from 17 regions of Ukraine and was facilitated by leading national experts and trainers of the Council of Europe. The training aimed to deepen participants’ understanding of the key concepts of equality and non-discrimination, international human rights standards, hate speech, racism, and hate-motivated crimes, with a strong emphasis on practical application within law enforcement.
In her opening remarks, Zemfira Kondur, Project Manager of the joint EU-Council of Europe project, underlined the importance of building trust between police and all communities, especially vulnerable and minority groups. She was joined by Petro Tkachuk, Deputy Head of the Directorate – Head of the Division of Commissioners for the Monitoring of Human Rights Compliance in Police Activities, Department of the Main Inspectorate and Human Rights Compliance of the National Police of Ukraine, who reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to upholding human rights standards.
Over the course of the programme, participants:
- Studied Ukrainian and international legal frameworks on equality and non-discrimination;
- Analyzed real-life hate crime cases and learned to identify hate speech, racism, and hate-motivated incidents;
- Discussed police best practices for engaging with Roma communities, LGBTI persons, persons with disabilities, and national minorities;
- Gained hands-on experience with Council of Europe tools, including the Police Educational Manual on equality and non-discrimination, ECRI guidelines, and the HELP platform.
The training also encouraged open dialogue between regions and provided practical guidance on integrating human rights-based approaches into daily police work
The initiative was part of the ongoing cooperation between joint EU-Council of Europe project “Support for implementing European standards relating to anti-discrimination and rights of national minorities in Ukraine” and law enforcement agencies in Ukraine to ensure more effective and rights-based responses to discrimination and hate-motivated incidents.
