15 October, Strasbourg
The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) will publish its evaluation reports on Montenegro and Turkey.
Contacts: Tatiana Baeva (for Montenegro) ; Panos Kakaviatos or Andrew Cutting (for Turkey)
15-16 October, Strasbourg
The Council of Europe will hold its 6th Dialogue with Roma and Traveller Civil Society. This edition will focus on the assessment of the Council of Europe Thematic Action Plan for the Inclusion of Roma and Travellers (2016-2019).
The event will be open to the press on 15 October, from 9.30 to 10.30 a.m. (Agora building, room G.01)
15-17 October, Lithuania
Raphaël Comte, rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, will conduct a fact-finding visit to several Lithuanian towns, as part of the preparation of his report on the “Jewish cultural heritage preservation”.
15-17 October, Strasbourg (European Youth Centre Strasbourg)
The Joint Council on Youth (CMJ), the co-managed decision-making committee of the youth sector composed of both governmental and non-governmental representatives, will look both back and forward, assessing the implementation of this year’s activities and deciding on priorities for the next biennium.
Following the evaluation conference last April, the CMJ will be reviewing the achievements and lessons learnt of the widely followed No Hate Speech Movement Campaign, as well as discussing how this experience could inform the Council of Europe’s future action to combat hate speech.
The Joint Council will also have the opportunity to exchange views with the Director of Democratic Participation, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, and the Secretary of State of Portugal for Youth.
More information
15-19 October, Turkey
The Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, will carry out a contact mission to the country where she will meet the civil society and have official meetings.
15-19 October, Strasbourg
On the occasion of its session, the European Committee of Social Rights will have an exchange of views with Michael O’Flaherty, Director of the ERU Agency for Fundamental Rights (Thursday 18 October).
On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Eliane Chemla, General Rapporteur of the Committee, will deliver an opening speech at the Colloquy on the right to decent housing, organised by the Conference of INGOs (Wednesday 17, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Palais de l’Europe, room 3)
More information
15-19 October, Athens
In the context of the new phase of the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees, refugees coming from Africa and Middle East will have their qualifications assessed and will be interviewed by credential evaluators, members of the national recognition centres (ENIC/NARICs) of Armenia, Canada, Greece, France, Netherlands and Norway.
Contact: Giuseppe Zaffuto, tel. +33 3 90 21 56 04
15-21 October – In the framework of the 2018 edition of the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW) coordinated by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities some 50 local authorities of Council of Europe member states have already committed themselves to organising actions on the theme "Citizen participation, consultation and commitment: for a thriving local democracy" with a particular focus on children and youth awareness and commitment.
16 October, Bratislava
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland will carry out an official visit to the Slovak Republic.
Contact: Daniel Höltgen, tel. +33 6 68 29 87 51
16 October, Strasbourg
The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing 20 judgments concerning Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Russia and Slovakia.
Plus d’information - ECHR website, tel. +33 3 90 21 42 08
16 October, Geneva
On the occasion of the 139th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, PACE President Liliane Maury Pasquier will participate in the launch of the IPU-PACE regional study on “Sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments in Europe”, alongside Gabriela Cuevas, President of the IPU.
16-18 October, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
The first African Forum on Cybercrime will bring together some 250 participants to discuss cybercrime policies and national legislations, international co-operation and capacity building to strengthen criminal justice authorities. The Forum is organised by the African Union Commission with the support of the Council of Europe and many other partners.
A press conference will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday 16 October (African Union Conference Centre).
More information – Contact: Estelle Steiner, tel. +33 3 88 41 33 35
17 October, Strasbourg
The European Court of Human Rights will hold a Grand Chamber hearing in the case Strand Lobben and Others v. Norway.
This case concerns the removal of a mother’s parental authority and the adoption of her eldest son.
More information - ECHR website, tel. +33 3 90 21 42 08
17 October, Strasbourg
The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) will publish its second evaluation report on the Netherlands, assessing the country’s compliance with the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking convention.
Contact: Andrew Cutting, tel. +32 485 21 72 02
17-18 October, Berlin
A new Refugee Academy project will be launched as part of the Schools of Political Studies network.
The initiative aims at establishing a training and capacity building programme for young men and women with a refugee background, as well as other individuals working in areas relating to integration and migration. The programme’s overall objective is to contribute pro-actively to the successful integration of newcomers into societies in European countries.
The first pilot seminar will assess the framework for refugees to participate in democratic life in Germany and address the role and shared responsibility of different stakeholders in creating an enabling environment to foster such participation.
17-18 October, Zagreb
The North-South Centre will organise, with the support of the European Commission and in coordination with the Ministry of Science and Education of Croatia and the Centre for Peace Studies, a follow-up meeting of the Balkan seminar on global development education in the framework of the Croatian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.
The meeting, will bring together practitioners and decision-makers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” to assess the level of implementation of the recommendations agreed in the seminar held in Belgrade last year in the field of global development education policy and curricula development, pedagogical support and advocacy.
This meeting is organised in the framework of the Joint Programme signed between the Council of Europe and the European Union for the promotion of global development education through dialogue, networking strategies, capacity building and exchange of education practices.
17-18 October, Tbilisi
Following the 15th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport (16 October), the PACE Sub-Committee on Education, Youth and Sport and the Sub-Committee on Children will hold a joint meeting in Tbilisi. This meeting will focus on fighting corruption and protecting human rights in sport and will address the parliamentary dimension of the new Council of Europe Campaign “Start to Talk” about the fight against sexual abuse of children in sport.
Draft agenda
18 October, Strasbourg (5 p.m., Council of Europe lawn)
On the occasion of the European Anti-Trafficking Day, the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Council of Europe, Roeland Böcker, and the Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, will inaugurate an exhibition entitled “Open your eyes to human trafficking”. The exhibition, which features 30 portraits and stories of victims, is an initiative by CoMensha, the national coordination centre against human trafficking in the Netherlands which works to improve the lives of victims.
Contact: Estelle Steiner, tel. +33 3 88 41 33 35
18 October, Strasbourg
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland will meet Fredrik Sejersted, Attorney General of Norway as well as Ivica Dačić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia.
Contacts: Daniel Höltgen, tel. +33 6 68 29 87 51
18 October, Strasbourg
The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing 90 judgments and/or decisions concerning Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine.
More information - ECHR website, tel. +33 3 90 21 42 08
18-19 October, Strasbourg (Palais de l’Europe, room 3)
The theme of the regional conference Access to Justice for Women Victims of Violence organised under the Partnership for Good Governance (PGG) project will be “Strengthening Access to Justice for Women Victims of Violence in the Six Eastern partnership Countries”. The aim of the conference is to review progress made in the field of women’s access to justice, including in the ratification and implementation of the Istanbul Convention, exchange on existing challenges and define follow-up for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries.
19 October, Strasbourg
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland will meet Lyudmila Denisova, Ombudsperson of Ukraine.
Contact: Daniel Höltgen, tel. +33 6 68 29 87 51
18-22 October, Poland
A delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities will carry out an Electoral Assessment Mission to the country in view of the local elections to be held on 21 October. Prior to the election day, the delegation will arrange briefings with the Mayor of Warsaw, the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights, representatives of the diplomatic corps, NGOs and media associations as well as political parties running in the elections.
20 October, Zagreb
On the occasion of the International Landscape Day of the Council of Europe and during the Croatian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, the Croatian Institute for Spatial Development and the Council of Europe, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Croatia, the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Croatia and the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund of Croatia, will organise a national conference on “Integrated Approach to Landscape Protection, Planning and Management”
The Conference aims to present the European Landscape Convention and to discuss its implementation in Croatia.
More information - Contact: Giuseppe Zaffuto, tel. +33 3 90 21 56 04
+33 3 88 41 25 60