Description
Although Croatia has relatively good institutional and legislative framework in the field of Human Rights (HR) and combating discrimination, enforcement of regulations and public policies fall behind, especially on the local level. HR system is complex, especially in times of economic crisis in which Croatia is since 2008, and the area of HR is insufficiently funded and substandard. Locally, the situation is even worse, not only for financial reasons but there is no system of protection of HR and combat discrimination in LSGU which do not support the CSOs' in the domain of HR. Citizens are completely excluded from the process of creation and decision making, and local policies are not socially sensitive and do not promote inclusion of minorities and marginalized groups. At a local level, there are few CSOs that are focused on HR and people are not very sensitive to the inclusion of minority groups (especially national/ethnic and sexual minorities) in which very patriarchal Dalmatia area takes the lead and where the largest percentage of citizens on a referendum for constitutional definition of marriage voted "for" with the aim of denying equality of same-sex couples with marriage of heterosexuals. Therefore, the aim of the project is to contribute to the development of democratic values in the Republic of Croatia, including the protection and promotion of HR through the empowerment of local communities and strengthen the capacity of CSOs and public administration in the area of South Croatia and empowerment of minorities to ensure their inclusion in society, equality and fairness in the protection of HR.
Summary of project results
15 informative radio shows on topics dealing with human rights were produced and broadcasted; - 20 journalistic articles have been published ; - The multimedial quuer exhibition in the most attractive area of Split - in the Old Town Hall has been organised before the Gay Pride in Split; - Cinema Projections were organised: the premiere of two feature-length documentary films on human rights issues; - 15 public actions held; - Three major public debates have been held, monitored in numerous media and widely visited by the public; - There have been over ten day-long workshops with direct beneficiaries and citizens in local communities to raise awareness of some of the grounds for discrimination - Two one-day training sessions were organized for representatives of local self-government units in the area where we worked, More than 500 people have been involved in services (records of free legal aid in associations), and a much larger number of direct support such as social status enhancement services continuously organized in Sinj and Makarska. A series of correspondence has been sent to the competent institutions, either for solving user rights, or for advocacy letters related to rooting irregularities. - A draft manual for the introduction of anti-discrimination policies and their follow-up at the level of local self-government, which will be used in future work with CSOs and JLS with whom long-term cooperation on this project has been concluded.
Summary of bilateral results