Newsletter 3| 8 July 2022




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Autumn Session of the Conference of INGOs

4-6 October 2022

The autumn session of the Conference of INGOs will take place in a hybrid format in Strasbourg and online via the KUDO platform. In the afternoon of 4 October there will be a networking event between the members of the Conference. The Plenary Sessions will take place on 5-6 October.

Check the website for updates ›

Spring session of the Conference of INGOs

4-6 April 2022

The Spring session of the General Assembly of the Conference of INGOs took place on 4-6 April in a hybrid format, with about 100 members present in the meeting room in Strasbourg and the rest of the Conference members connecting online.

The highlights of the session:

An open dialogue between the members of the Conference and the Standing Committee took place on 4 April aiming at discussions about our work in the Council of Europe, the expectations of the members, and the actual situation.
Debate organised by the Conference of INGOs' Action for Social Rights Committee on how to ensure respect for economic and social rights in times of war and of declining multilateralism.
Presentation of the CURE Campaign and how to deal with the human rights defenders and human rights organisations from/in Russia.
Presentation and debate organised by the Committee for Rights of persons who are migrants on the situation in and around Ukraine.
Presentation of all the committees of their work and achievements.

Link to session's web page ›

The highlights of the work of the Standing Committee and the President of the Conference of INGOs

The President of the Conference of INGOs had several exchanges of views with the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the role of the civil society and the Conference of INGOs in the work and the mission of the Council of Europe. Some of the speeches can be found at the designated web page of the President.

On 20 May 2022 Mr Gerhard Ermischer delivered a speech at the 132nd session of the Committee of Minsters of the Council of Europe in Turin, Italy.

The President and members of the Standing Committee have participated at various events organised by the committees of the Conference and by the different services of the Council of Europe.

On behalf of the Standing Committee and the Conference of INGOs the President has issued several statements and open letter concerning the situation in Ukraine.

Click here to find out more and read the documents ›

The highlights of the work of the Expert Council on NGO Law

In the first half of this year the Expert Council on NGO Law has published two important studies as follows:

Study on Non-Governmental Organisations and the Implementation of Measures Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Study on the Execution of Judgments Involving Freedom of Association

Read the news and various documents of the Expert Council ›

The highlights of the work of the Conference of INGOs' Committees

Our committees have been very active in their fields of activity and advocacy. They organised many events to which the

Standing Committee and the President have been systematically invited. They also contributed very successfully to the work of the CoE.

The Committees have prepared and disseminated several statements and communications on the war against Ukraine and the disastrous humanitarian crisis caused as a result of this still ongoing violence and aggression.

The Committee on Human Rights and Artificial Intelligence organised a webinar on Human Right and Artificial Intelligence on 10 January.

The Action for Social Rights Committee in partnership with the Department of Social Rights of the Council of Europe, has organised two webinars as follows: a webinar on the Revised European Social Charter: what use for what impact? Advancing the implementation of socio-economic rights by making better use of the monitoring procedures of the European Social Charter on 29 March and a webinar on the monitoring procedures of the European Social Charter and in particular on the use of the collective complaints procedure as a means of advancing the implementation of socio-economic rights at national level on 14 June.

The Civil Society Committee on the Rights of the Child organised a webinar session with experts and thought leaders across Europe - a live online discussion on Determining and Evaluating the Best Interests and Rights of Children in Parental Separation and Care Proceedings: exploring perspectives and best practices across Europe on Tuesday 21 June.
On 22 June a Side Event was organised at the Council of Europe by FIACAT, under the patronage of the Conference of INGOs, particularly by the Committee Rights of Persons who are Migrants and Civil Society Committee on the Rights of the Child, on the theme “The situation of unaccompanied minors in Europe”.
Directly linked to the 3rd session of the PACE, this side event was chaired by H.E. Mr Roeland Böcker, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Council of Europe. This exchange gathered many parliamentarians and benefited from the intervention of several of the members of the Migration Committee as well as Ms Leyla Kayacik, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees.
Based on several extracts from the documentary "Shadow Game", several themes were discussed: the migratory pathways of young minors, pushbacks and violence at the borders, the transition to adulthood, care and access to education for children.

Check out what’s new on the Committees' page ›


Civil society and the Council of Europe – strengthening the ties:

As part of the Secretary General’s proposals to follow-up to the Helsinki decisions on civil society, a resource for civil society that gives easy access to the Civil Society Handbook and the Civil Society Portal has been published online.

This site available in both English and French provides everything that civil society partners need to work with the Council of Europe in all its different aspects.

Visit the civil society portal ›

The BePart Civil Participation Forum, with its first series of initiatives and examples for you to discover, is up and running thanks to the excellent co-operation between the Conference, the Congress and the Directorate General of Democracy. You all can now participate by adding your projects, initiatives and examples of civil participation and help to make this the living tool we have envisaged.

Visit the BePart Forum ›

Country visits

As you are aware the Conference of INGOs organises visits to Member States to meet local NGOs and public authorities to introduce them to the Conference, better understand the cooperation between

NGOs and decision-makers and to discuss NGO participation in the public decision-making process.

In this framework a country visit to Helsinki, Finland took place in April 2022.

In addition to meetings with local authorities and the Council of Europe’s national Parliamentary Assembly delegation as well as the Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, an aim was to acquaint the local civil society with the Council of Europe’s work. It was deemed crucial to mobilise Nordic civil society to get more engaged with the work of the Council of Europe. Therefore, an open NGO event was organised to acquaint the local civil society more on the work of the Council of Europe. The Delegation also met various NGOs, in order to understand the country context and to raise awareness of the civil society’s role in Council of Europe’s work.

A second country visit is planned to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka) on 4 - 8 September 2022.

The purpose of this fact-finding visit is to meet domestic NGOs and public authorities in order to introduce them to the Conference of INGOs and discuss NGO participation in the public decision-making process. The result of the visit will also contribute to advancing the Council of Europe’s work in this field.

Check out the past visits and the reports ›

The guarantee of good communication between the Conference and its Members

The Secretariat would like to remind that the INGO Database is the ONLY tool used for extracting the contacts of your INGOs. Therefore, it is paramount for an efficient communication to update regularly your INGO's page in the Database with valid, functioning contacts / e-mail addresses, as well as other relevant data concerning your INGOs, such as the name and contact of the Head of Delegation, general information about your INGOs.

Should you need assistance in updating the details of your INGO in the Database, do not hesitate to contact the secretariat at : [email protected]

Go to the database ›

Enjoy your summer holidays

We take this opportunity to thank you all for your commitment and contribution to the work of the Conference and wish you a very restful and relaxing summer break.

Council of Europe, Avenue de l'Europe F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
Tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 20 00

Conference of INGOs website