65 professionals have been enrolled into the HELP course on CPT standards. The course was launched for lawyers, penitentiary staff, members of the Council for the Prevention of Torture and representatives of the People’s Advocate Office in cooperation with the Training Centre of the Bar Association.  The course was designed to help professionals to familiarise with the CPT’s key standards concerning the five most important places of deprivation of liberty: police stations, prisons, immigration detention facilities, psychiatric establishments, and social care homes.

44 police staff of the place of detention subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs from across the country enhanced their professional skills on fundamental safeguards against torture and ill-treatment in the initial period of detention during cascade seminars carried out in November 2022.  As a result, the participants became aware about the importance of the fundamental safeguards against torture and ill-treatment in the initial period of detention, which are to be communicated by the police staff to the pre-trial detainees.

A total of 45 social assistants from all rayons of the country enhanced their knowledge and skills to effectively respond to cases of violence against women and domestic violence in a way that is aligned with the standards set in the Istanbul Convention.

The Council of Europe project „Supporting the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova” held its mid-term Steering Committee meeting in Chisinau. The project team presented the progress made since the launch of the project, the results achieved, and the workplan for the year 2023. 

Annually, from 25 November to 10 December, the entire international community and the national government join their efforts to celebrate together the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The Council of Europe Office in Chisinau joined the campaign by sending a call-to-action message to the state authorities to protect victims of violence, by implementing the Istanbul Convention and its four pillars: prevention, protection, prosecution and co-ordinated policies.

During the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence and domestic violence, voices of 11 mayors from different regions of the country united in a joint call for action to eradicate violence against women and showed commitment at local level to ensure all the necessary measures for PREVENTING, PROSECUTING, AND ELIMINATING violence against women and domestic violence and PROTECTING women against all forms of violence in line with the Istanbul Convention.

Council of Europe’s experts presented the concept of a public awareness raising campaign on combatting sexism, harassment, and gender-based violence against women in elections in the Republic of Moldova and its road map. Both documents are designed to serve as a practical tool for the Central Electoral Commission and other public institutions in tackling the recurrent phenomena of sexism and discrimination against women during the upcoming three national-wide electoral campaigns: 2023 general local elections, 2024 presidential and 2025 parliamentary elections.

The Council of Europe developed together with the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training of the Republic of Moldova an e-course on combating hate speech in elections, hosted on the e-training platform of the Training Centre. The e-course offers training to key electoral stakeholders - politicians, electoral officials and observers, journalists, and of course the public, interested in learning about human rights and hate speech legal provisions and standards. 

The e-course is open for anyone and can be accessed here (only in Romanian).

8 trainers of the National Institute of Justice have broadened their knowledge on reasonable accommodation within an online training of trainers. The trainees analysed various case studies on disability-based discrimination and reasonable accommodation as well as cases they have encountered in their professional experience and the situation of reasonable accommodation in the Republic of Moldova.

52 judges, prosecutors, and judicial staff have broadened their knowledge on international and national standards on non-discrimination within two online training sessions. The trainees analysed various case studies on discrimination as well as cases that they have encountered in their professional experience and the situation pertaining to discrimination in the Republic of Moldova.