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 Have peoples voice heard on how to improve the use of official languages at local level

Have peoples voice heard on how to improve the use of official languages at local level

Over the past weeks, Council of Europe Office in Pristina, has been supporting our partners — the Ministry of Local Government Administration, the Office of the Language Commissioner, and the Ombudsperson Institution — holding a series of seven regional meetings focused on one key issue: the implementation of the Law on the Use of Official Languages and Languages in Official Use.

The meetings took place in the regions of Ferizaj/Uroševac on April 3, Prizren on April 8, Gjakova/Gjakovica on April 10, Gjilan/Gnjilane on April 15, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica on April 16, Peja/Peć on April 17, and Prishtinë/Priština on April 22. A total of 33 municipalities participated in these important discussions, which were organised under the Council of Europe's project “Fostering Societal Cohesion by Reinforcing Minority Rights and Minority Languages.”

This collaborative effort was vital for promoting linguistic diversity and addressing the recommendations stemming from the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and its 5th Opinion urging the authorities to take all necessary measures to improve implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages.

Mary Ann Hennessey, Head of Council of Europe in Pristina, invited the authorities to allocate sufficient resources to ensure the efficiency and quality of translations. “This includes in particular strengthening translation capacities, recruiting and training bilingual and multilingual staff, as well as distributing resources and guidelines to municipalities to improve the fulfillment of their functions in this regard“, Hennessey said during the final meeting, held in Pristina.

These discussions weren’t just theoretical — they were about practical change. Local governments play a crucial role in ensuring that language rights aren’t just guaranteed by law, but actually respected on the ground.

The meetings enabled municipal representatives, language policy network members, and institutional partners to address some of the most pressing challenges such as the publication of official documents in all official languages on municipal websites, the availability of translators, the proper display of inscriptions in the public spaces, and the need to strengthen coordination between the central and the local level.

The Council of Europe will prepare a report with recommendations to be translated into concrete actions for the support of relevant institutions in charge of the implementation of the law.

April 2025
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 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.

 

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.