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:

Back Empowering a new generation of anti-racism trainers in Eastern Europe and Western Balkans

Empowering a new generation of anti-racism trainers in Eastern Europe and Western Balkans

As part of its ongoing efforts to advancing anti-discrimination policies in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions, the Council of Europe launched a Training of Trainers (ToT) programme. This initiative brings together over 30 participants, including representatives from public institutions responsible for inclusion and anti-discrimination policies, equality bodies, and public administration training centres.

Over a 4-month period, participants will gain both in-depth substantive knowledge and technical skills to effectively teach the anti-racism course at the domestic level. The training will include online workshops, hands-on tutorials, and individual assignments, culminating in a final in-person seminar scheduled for October in Strasbourg. Once the programme is completed, trainers will be able to deliver the course on “Combating Racism and Racial Discrimination” within their respective Beneficiaries.

The online course “Combating Racism and Racial Discrimination”, draws on the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) General Policy Recommendation No. 7 which outlines essential elements for comprehensive anti-racism domestic legislation. In addition, the course refers also to the EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025, acknowledging the need to tackle the underlying problems racism, including in its structural form, in the EU through legislative and policy measures.

Developed by leading anti-discrimination and equality experts, the course was first piloted during a workshop held in Strasbourg in July 2024, where representatives from relevant institutions in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe had the opportunity to test the material and provide feedback. Translated in local languages of the regions, the course will be provided to public administration training centres, enabling civil servants to integrate it in their professional development path. The wider roll-out, planned for 2026, will be tailored to each beneficiary institution’s needs and technical capacities. In the long term, the course will be published as a self-learning resource for a broader audience, including students, civil society organisations, and the general public.

This event is organised within the action “Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans” and the project “Promoting equality and non-discrimination: towards more resilient and inclusive societies”, which are respectively parts of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programmes “Horizontal Facility III for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” and “Partnership for Good Governance”.

Western Balkans 15 April 2025
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page

 These 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 this work 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 Council of Europe 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.

 

Division units
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.

Anti-Discrimination Cooperation and Hate Speech, Hate Crime and Artificial Intelligence Units

Anti-Discrimination Cooperation and Hate Speech, Hate Crime and Artificial Intelligence Units

Anti-Discrimination Cooperation and Hate Speech, Hate Crime and Artificial Intelligence Units

The Anti-Discrimination Cooperation (ADCU) and Hate Speech, Hate Crime and Artificial Intelligence (HSCU) Units run 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.

SOGIESC

SOGIESC

SOGIESC

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