The study visits for the representatives of the Council for preventing and eliminating discrimination and ensuring equality of the Republic of Moldova (Equality Council) to institutions in the anti-discrimination field in Romania took place on 13-14 December 2022.

Meetings with National Council for Combating Discrimination of Romania, the Romanian People’s Advocate and the Constitutional Court of Romania were focused on the relation between the equality bodies and judiciary on anti-discrimination practices, but also on sharing experience in handling cases of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes, and the practice of constitutional instances’ jurisprudence for respecting the principle of equality and non-discrimination.

In addition to peer exchanges and meetings with state institutions, the representatives of the Moldavian Equality Council met the Romanian Association Accept, active in the field of LGBTI rights, and discussed the cooperation between equality bodies and civil society organisations in protecting the rights of vulnerable communities.

This visit enabled participants to share their experiences and opinions, to learn from the experience of Romanian institutions and their examples of good practices in the field. Also, this activity consolidated and enhanced peer-to-peer exchanges, which are relevant for further promotion of equally and anti-discrimination in the Republic of Moldova.

This activity was organised jointly within the European Union and the Council of Europe projects “Strengthening access to justice through non-judicial redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Eastern Partnership” and  ”Strengthening the capacities of the justice sector actors to deliver justice in line with European standards, in particular to fight discrimination in the Republic of Moldova”, implemented in the framework of the programme “Partnership for Good Governance II, 2019-2022”.