The CDDH held a Conference on the Protection and Promotion of Civil Society Space in Europe at the opening of its 100th meeting, on June 25,2024. This significant half-day event in Helsinki, aimed to evaluate progress since the adoption of CM/Rec(2018)11 and foster dialogue on the protection and promotion of civil society space accross Europe.

Civil society performs important functions to ensure continuing progress towards the fulfilment of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The CDDH conference addressed the challenges that threaten civil society space, as well as highlighted successful practices that enable it to flourish. The keynote speech was delivered by Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. Other speakers included representatives from international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), and the Council of Europe (CoE).

• Programme of the Conference on the protection and promotion of civil society space in Europe
• Biographies of the speakers 
• Reykjavík Declaration
• Secretary General’s Roadmap on civil society engagement with the Council of Europe