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Description
The project aims: a) to strengthen the monitoring of human rights situation in Lithuania by proposing to policy and decision makers’ public policy solutions that are in line with international human rights standards; b) to mobilize public support for these solutions and build public resilience towards undemocratic and human rights'' restricting initiatives. The project also aims to change the attitudes towards vulnerable groups among the specialists encountering people from vulnerable groups in their work and journalist reporting on these groups, by engaging them into awareness raising activities and including in these activities representatives from vulnerable groups.
The impact of the project will be complex and will encompass several target areas and target groups: a) regular monitoring of the general human rights and civil liberties'' situation in Lithuania, and providing relevant information to international human rights bodies; b) regular monitoring of the legislative process and submitting legal and policy proposals to national policy and decision makers; c) awareness raising and educational events for specialists and journalists, aimed at reducing bias towards vulnerable groups; d) meetings with youth in 10 regions on gender-based violence, with a purpose to engage the youth and enable them to recognize various forms of gender-based violence; e) advocacy and awareness raising campaigns, that would engage the public at large into the discussion on human rights issues, and would mobilize public support to policy solutions respectful of human rights.
It is expected that after the implementation of the project, the observance of international human rights standards in Lithuania will be strengthened, the awareness of the needs of vulnerable communities will be raised among specialists and journalists, and youth in the regions will be better able to recognize gender-based violence and find ways of responding to it.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to increase support for human rights at the levels of public policy, society, and regional communities. The project aimed to contribute to the solution of such problems as insufficient assurance of human rights standards in public policy, public discourse not always favorable to human rights, prevailing myths, and stereotypes on some human rights issues and in relation to vulnerable groups. The project aimed to involve youth in the regions in discussions, train specialists, strengthen the focus on human rights in public debate and the legislative process, and advocate for the establishment of human rights standards at the international level.
During the project, an expert report "Human rights in Lithuania 2020-2021" was published, and a representative study of public attitudes on various human rights issues was conducted. 56 comments, interviews, and articles were published in the media, 38 working group meetings were attended, and 18 conclusions were drawn up for draft laws and public policy documents, 8 draft legal acts were affected. 10 discussions were organized with youth in the regions on the topic of gender-based violence and gender equality, in which 338 youth representatives participated. After the discussions, the young people''s attitudes towards gender equality changed positively. Training was organized for specialists (146 participants) on domestic violence and for police officers (110 participants) to strengthen their intercultural competencies. The activities of the "Mental Health 2030" coalition were coordinated, two joint events were organized in the Seimas - a conference on mental health and a discussion on the mental health of children and adolescents. Two discussions in Kaunas and Klaipėda on mental health and human rights were held, in which mental health service users participated and presented their experiences. The final event of the project was organized, where the results of the project were presented. The project was actively communicated on social networks Facebook and Instagram.
Impact on target groups. The project engaged youth in the regions in the discussions about gender-based violence and gender equality, which improved the youths’ awareness about prevention and recognition of violence as well as help methods. After the discussions, the youths’ attitudes on various gender equality issues have improved. During the training for specialists on domestic violence, the specialists'' abilities to recognize domestic violence and respond to the needs of the victims were strengthened, while the training for police officers strengthened their intercultural competences and their ability to recognize hate speech and hate crimes. Meetings of media representatives with communities vulnerable to hate crimes strengthened the ability of media representatives to write respectfully about vulnerable communities and contribute to the reduction of hate speech towards these communities. Whilst submitting conclusions and recommendations for draft legislation, national policy and decision-makers were familiarized with international human rights standards, these standards were integrated into the legislative process as well as the legislation itself in cases where the conclusions and proposals were fully or partially taken into account.
Impact on indirect beneficiaries. By strengthening the abilities of specialists to recognize domestic violence and provide assistance to victims of this violence, the needs of victims will be better met both in the criminal process and in the provision of various assistance. During the project, a series of articles, comments, and interviews were published, which introduced the public to the importance of ensuring human rights, especially during crises, the latest developments of the human rights situation in Lithuania, the principle of equal treatment, harmful myths, and stereotypes about vulnerable groups and how to overcome them.