29/06/2020 | Prizes
The deadline for submission of nominations for the 2020 Václav Havel Prize is 30 June. The Prize aims to reward "outstanding civil society action in defending human rights in Europe and beyond". Candidates should have made a difference to the human rights situation of a given group, been...
29/06/2020 | Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Georgia, Titus Corlatean (Romania, SOC) and Claude Kern (France, ALDE), have welcomed the adoption today by the Georgian Parliament of the Constitutional amendments to implement the new election...
26/06/2020 | Standing Committee
“Confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic, people widely observed the restrictions imposed to protect human life and public health, showing a strong sense of maturity and respect for human life,” said Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, the Greek Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Committee...
26/06/2020 | Standing Committee
“The greatest threat in Europe now is complacency. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over; and nobody is safe until we are all safe,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, addressing PACE's Standing Committee today by video-conference. The impacts of COVID...
26/06/2020 | Standing Committee
All types of modern contraception, including long-acting reversible contraception “should be accessible and affordable for everyone”, irrespective of their sex, social or national origin and any other status, and should be “accompanied by reliable advice and information”, the PACE Standing...
26/06/2020 | Standing Committee
States facing future pandemic crises should “act fast to contain outbreaks, using tried and tested, effective measures, implemented in a rights-compliant way,” the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has said. Responses should be “data-driven, evidence-based, and incorporate...
26/06/2020 | Standing Committee
An exchange of views on the COVID-19 pandemic with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, was one of the highlights of the meeting of the Standing Committee (*) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which met on Friday 26 June 2020...
26/06/2020 | Standing Committee
PACE has expressed its deep concern at the spread of sexual violence against children, often unreported due to shame, unbalanced power relations between victims and perpetrators, fear of disclosing intimate information or the fact that disclosure could result in further victimisation. Adopting a...
25/06/2020 | Elections
A four-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC), will travel to Poland from 26 to 29 June to assess the 28 June Presidential election. The delegation is due to meet the head of the National Election Committee, as well...
25/06/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
On the occasion of World Drug Day and the Global Day of Action for the #SupportDontPunish Campaign, Assembly rapporteur Hannah Bardell (United Kingdom, NR) and rapporteur for opinion Joseph O’Reilly (Ireland, EPP/CD) called for European drug policies to be consistent with human rights standards...
25/06/2020 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Increasing attacks against LGBTI people in Poland over the past weeks and months must stop,” declared Fourat Ben Chikha (Belgium, SOC), the General Rapporteur on the rights of LGBTI people for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), speaking today. “It is alarming to see that...
24/06/2020 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
According to the Equality Committee, member States should ensure a gender dimension in their foreign policies, in view of promoting inclusiveness, equality and non-discrimination and to counter the backlash against women's rights. The report by Petra Stienen (Netherlands, ALDE), adopted by the...