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Standing Committee meeting, Rome - Family photo

Standing Committee met in Rome

26/11/2021 | Standing Committee

The Standing Committee (*) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) met in Rome on 25-26 November 2021, as Italy began its six-month Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. The Standing Committee, which brings together around 60 of the Assembly’s leading...

Lord Richard Balfe (United Kingdom, NR), Lord Alexander Dundee (United Kingdom, EC/DA), UNHCR’s Director of International Protection, Grainne O’Hara, Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC) and Lord Leslie Griffiths (United Kingdom, SOC)

Call on States to support UN and CoE initiatives for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers

26/11/2021 | Standing Committee

Concerned about the frequency of expulsions and pushbacks of refugees and asylum seekers at Europe's borders, the PACE Standing Committee recalled that the 1951 Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights required States “to protect the rights of persons to seek asylum and...

Room

Strengthening the voluntary relocation and resettlement of persons in need of international protection

26/11/2021 | Standing Committee

The Standing Committee today called on member States and the EU to strengthen and increase the voluntary transfer of migrants in need of humanitarian protection or asylum seekers to third countries for determining their migration status, in particular vulnerable persons in Cyprus, Greece, Italy...

Françoise Hetto Gaasch (Luxembourg, EPP/CD)

Ensuring a better balance between work and private life while catering forthe best interests of the child

26/11/2021 | Standing Committee

The Standing Committee, meeting in Rome, expressed concern that “the balance between parents’ professional and private lives may be undermined”. The situation could worsen in a context where States must respond to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the parliamentarians...

Constantinos Efstathiou (Cyprus, SOC)

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education and culture

26/11/2021 | Standing Committee

Long periods of isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic have shown to what degree education and exposure to culture are vital for individual and collective well-being, PACE Standing Committee underlined. And adherence to democratic values and active citizenship, particularly among young people...

Standing Committee meeting meets in Rome

Combating discrimination against Roma and Travellers in the field of housing

26/11/2021 | Standing Committee

The Standing Committee has condemned the fact that many Roma and Travellers in Europe “still live, against their will”, in unsuitable and racially segregated housing on the outskirts of urban areas, often lacking the most basic amenities and vulnerable to forced evictions and demolition, as well...

Pornography

PACE sets out recommendations on the human rights implications of pornography

26/11/2021 | Standing Committee

PACE is calling for comprehensive sexuality education in schools to become “the main source of information on sexuality for young people”, thus helping prevent the spread of unreliable and potentially harmful information via pornography. Adopting a resolution based on the report by Frank Heinrich...

Roberto Fico

Roberto Fico: 'Multilateralism is no longer an option but a necessity'

25/11/2021 | Standing Committee

“International co-operation is essential if we are to address the major global challenges of our time. We must say it again: multilateralism is no longer an option but a necessity. And it is precisely in this spirit that Italy intends to address its six-month Presidency,” said the President of...

Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati

Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati: progress in the field of combating violence against women 'will not be...

25/11/2021 | Standing Committee

“Progress in the field of combating violence against women will not be the result of laws alone. It is from the educational level, from childhood, that we need to start to develop non-violent gender relations, abandoning the stereotypes that, sometimes unconsciously, hinder the choices and life...

Luigi Di Maio

Luigi Di Maio: 'Effective multilateralism is the driving force behind our Presidency'

25/11/2021 | Standing Committee

“Effective multilateralism is the driving force behind our Presidency, which has prompted us to develop an ambitious programme that will include more than thirty events over the six months, with the aim of advancing the work of the Council of Europe,” said Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio...

Thórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC)

PACE decides on an explicit ban on sexual harassment or misconduct by its members

25/11/2021 | Standing Committee

PACE has revised its Code of Conduct for members to explicitly prohibit “sexism, harassment and sexual violence and misconduct”, and has outlined a procedure for investigating any cases of this behaviour. Adopting a resolution based on a report by Thorhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), the...

Standing Committee meeting meets in Rome

The role of men in stopping gender-based violence: “half of humanity cannot change the world without the...

25/11/2021 | Standing Committee

“The Istanbul Convention underlines that men and boys have an important role to play to end violence against women. Half of humanity cannot change the world without the other half being on board,” PACE President Rik Daems said today, opening a special event in Rome to mark the International Day...