Inclusion et anti-discrimination

The fourth Technical Project Committee meeting for the Council of Europe project “Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova”  brought together key state and non-state stakeholders engaged in the equality and anti-discrimination domain. The discussion focused on reviewing the main achievements in the third year of implementation, taking note of challenges, sharing lessons learnt, and aggreging on priorities for the upcoming phase of activities.

During the last year, 20 events were held under the project, that underpinned several initiatives promoting equality, preventing and combating hatred, including by raising public awareness in these sectors. The project trained 259 legal professionals on hate speech and hate crime in line with European standards, including on the recommendations from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), and reached over 3,000 citizens through awareness campaigns.

As example of key results, existing cooperation platforms were strengthened, others reinforced and new ones set up, with state actors and NGOs, ultimately contributing to better protection of vulnerable groups and persons. Also, cooperation with youth for fighting against hatred was extended. Capacity building activities remained at the centre of project actions, for instance equipping police operators to collect data on hate crimes, empowering community mediators to protect Roma rights, and strengthening minorities’ rights protection in the Republic of Moldova.

Project partners also took part in five regional events under the broader crossed-regional initiative “Promoting equality and non-discrimination: towards more resilient and inclusive societies”, which allowed them to share experiences among EU acceding countries, and improve anti-discrimination mechanisms in line with European best practices.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova and the Council of Europe. It also involved the representatives of Equality Council, General Police Inspectorate, People’s Advocate Office, National Institute of Justice, Agency for Interethnic Relations, General Prosecutor’s Office, relevant ministries in the field, and civil society organisations.

All partners reaffirmed their commitment to fighting discrimination, hate speech, and hate crimes, and to sustaining the progress made. They also emphasized the need for continued collaboration to better protect and support victims of discrimination, with a focus on inclusion for all.

This meeting was organised in the framework of the Council of Europe project Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova, financed under the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova.