Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) | Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Posts Tagged ‘Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)’

Fundamental Rights Agency (Europe): human rights defenders and COVID-19; 17 April on-line

April 12, 2020

FRA accounces a discussion on the impact of COVID-19 measures on human rights defenders.

When:: 17 April 2020
Where:: Online
Who:: EU Member States and Representatives from intergovernmental organisations and EU institutions responsible for cooperation with civil society and for supporting human rights defenders in Europe.

They will discuss the impact of COVID-19 measures for human rights defenders. FRA will look more closely into the effects of these measures on civil society organisations in the coming months.

The informal contact group on human rights defenders was set up a year ago. It allows ongoing, practical information exchange at the working level.

The aim is to enhance coordination and cooperation in supporting human rights defenders.

A very summary outline of the result of the 17 April meeting was published on 23 April:

In going forward, staff working on cooperation will continue to meet to exchange views on a range of issues on how best to support civil society and human rights defenders. These include: how Intergovernmental organisations can ensure continued participation by civil society during these times, including online; assessing the impact of COVID-19 measures on human rights defenders and civil society organisations; how donors could deal with the situation; digital security, safe communications, and the digital divide; and how do deliver capacity building and project support under the current circumstances.

Support for human rights systems and defenders

https://fra.europa.eu/en/event/2020/discussing-impact-covid-19-measures-human-rights-defenders

https://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2020/international-organisations-discuss-how-support-human-rights-defenders-during-covid

Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Civil society, Corona virus, Covid-19, EU, Europe, Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), informal contact group on human rights defenders (europe), on line conversation

EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency has new website to serve mobile users better

February 5, 2020

On 3 February 2020 the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the EU announced a modern website which promises better user experience. The new-look website allows users to quickly and simply find the key fundamental rights information they need. FRA re-designed its website drawing on extensive user testing to meet their needs better, making it fully responsive across all mobile devices.

The EU’s bill of rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, takes centre stage, underlining its vital role in the respect, promotion and protection of rights across the European Union. The website offers an enhanced theme-based structure. This groups related information on hate crime, asylum or data protection, for example, so users have faster access to relevant information that interests them most. It also signposts the multitude of different types of material that users can browse from publications for downloading to videos to watch, from datasets to explore to infographics to share.

It prominently highlights useful tools like FRA’s EU Fundamental Rights Information System (EFRIS). This section steers users to key resources, such as promising practices from across the EU on how to combat hate crime or collect equality data, which they could use in their own work. In addition, country-specific information is more prominent so users can find local information from their country. It also flags which information is available in other EU languages. Users can also sign up for project updates via email so they can keep abreast of the latest agency developments. The site reflects FRA’s convening power as a hub for all human rights defenders which they can draw on for their work. It also aims to mirror FRA’s communicating rights mantra to maximise impact and outreach, helping to make a difference for people across the EU.

Accessibility remains a key consideration in the new design of the site.

https://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2020/new-modern-fra-website-promises-better-user-experience

Support for human rights systems and defenders

Posted in EU, human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU), documentation tools, EU, european region, FRA, Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), human rights documentation, mobile phones, website

New contact group among intergovernmental organisations to support human rights defenders in Europe

May 12, 2019

On 10 May 2019 the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) reported that from 7 to 8 May, representatives from intergovernmental organisations and EU institutions responsible for cooperation with civil society and for supporting human rights defenders in Europe and Central Asia met in Warsaw at the invitation of the FRA and the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Others represented at the meeting were the Council of Europe, European Commission, European External Action Service, European Asylum Support Office (EASO), OSCE Chairmanship in Office, OSCE Representative for Freedom of the Media, the OHCHR Geneva and Brussels office, UNDP, UN Women, and the World Bank.

The press release did not elaborate what was discussed or achieved but only that “It served to establish ongoing, practical information exchanges to facilitate further cooperation between these organisations in supporting human rights defenders.”

The need for more action in support of HRDs in Europe has been often referred to in this blog. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/01/27/human-rights-ngos-in-europe-no-longer-the-standard-to-follow/

https://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2019/new-contact-group-support-human-rights-defenders-europe-among-intergovernmental

Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: coordination, Europe, european region, Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), Human Rights Defenders, meeting, ODHIR, OSCE, Warsaw

Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Posts Tagged ‘Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)’

Fundamental Rights Agency (Europe): human rights defenders and COVID-19; 17 April on-line

EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency has new website to serve mobile users better

New contact group among intergovernmental organisations to support human rights defenders in Europe

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