Inclusion and anti-discrimination programmes

The Council of Europe's Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Programmes Division carries out activities to ensure genuine equality and full access to rights and opportunities for all members of society.

The Division is composed of four Units, offering concrete and tested solutions to governmental and non-governmental partners in member States to strenghten inclusion and address discrimination and inequality that undermine the enjoyment of human rights and democracy by everyone:

Retour Opening up a new space of expression among youngsters to fight bullying and cyberbullying

Opening up a new space of expression among youngsters to fight bullying and cyberbullying

Youngsters are at the forefront of the fight against hate speech and discrimination, and they have an important role when it comes to tackling cases of bullying and cyberbullying in their local communities, but also online. Having this in mind, the joint EU/COE raising awareness campaign “Block the Hatred. Share the Love - Kosovo*”, implemented within the action “Promotion of diversity and equality in the Kosovo*”, joined the forces with the EU/CoE project “Building capacity for inclusion in education – INCLUDE”, to organise a series of educational activities for students in Prizren, Ferizaj and Pristina during 15-16 June 2022. 

The three workshops titled “Art and sports as a tool to fight against bullying and exclusion” - foresaw several awareness raising activities focused on acknowledging pupils on bullying and cyberbullying as major phenomena of discrimination and hate speech, and how to better tackle them. Thanks to the support and expertise of facilitators, teachers and directors of schools, youth could first have a moment of reflection on the psychological and physical dangers posed by bullying and later enjoy together games and informal talks.

The first workshop was held on the 15  June 2022 in Prizren at “Emin Duraku” and “Leke Dukagjini” school, to continue on the 16 June 2022, with the activities  hosted by the school “Tefik Canga“ in Ferizaj and by “Faik Konica” in Pristina, which also received students coming from the school “Elena Gjika” in Pristina. During the opening workshop in Pristina, the Council of Europe Office in Pristina was also honored with the participation of Donjeta Sahatciu, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Pristina, welcomed by the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Pristina, Frank Power.

These workshops are part of the activities organised in the framework of the campaign “Block the Hatred; Share the Love” of the action “Promotion of Diversity and Equality in Kosovo” part of the joint EU and Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility II” programme and aims to inform various local audiences on the danger of hate speech and ways to tackle it. The campaign involves prominent public figures, institutions, and renowned human rights activists, promoting diversity and equality in the local communities and in the region, through personal storytelling, testimonies and exchange of good practices. 

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

PRISTINA/PRIZREN 15-16/06/2022
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page

 The four Units' activities are directly based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the recommendations and findings of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (AC/FCNM), and the Committee of Experts of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages, as well as relevant Committee of Ministers Recommendations.

 

 The approach of the Division is to establish a direct link between standards, the monitoring processes, the intergovernmental work, such as the Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CDADI) and the implementation of co-operation activities. This allows to identify weaknesses in the implementation of standards where technical cooperation activities can be helpful.

 

 The Division works closely with the existing networks of equality bodies and national human rights structures (ombudsmen and national human rights institutions); other Council of Europe monitoring bodies (such as European Committee of Social Rights, the Group of experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) and their secretariats; European networks of NGO’s and national civil society platforms; and international actors, such as the EU Commission and its Agencies (including the Fundamental Rights Agency), the UN agencies (such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme) and the OSCE/ODIHR.

ICC

ICC

ICC

The Intercultural Cities Programme (ICC) supports local and regional authorities in reviewing their policies through an intercultural lens and developing comprehensive intercultural strategies to ensure real equality, meaningful intercultural interaction, and positive diversity management to realise the diversity advantage.

No Hate Speech and Cooperation Unit

No Hate Speech and Cooperation Unit

No Hate Speech and Cooperation Unit

The No Hate Speech and Cooperation Unit (NHSCU) runs extensive programmes of cooperation activities to help combat discrimination, hate speech and hate crime, as well as support the empowerment of minorities, the positive management of diversity and respect of human rights, including in the deployment of digital technologies, algorithmic and artificial intelligence systems.

SOGI

SOGI

SOGI

The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Unit (SOGI) offers tailor made activities aiming to combat discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics, including, including technical support and expertise to member states to improve their legal and institutional framework, capacity building, sharing of good practices, and awareness raising.