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Description
Discrimination is a current problem in Romanian and grows rapidly. The most common forms of discrimination are verbal aggression, physical aggression, threats and trespassing or destruction of property. According to information provided by the National Council for Combating Discrimination, victims of discrimination have no real access to justice. The most common reason given in response to petitions is the lack of evidence that the victim was subjected to a hate crime.
The project responds to the causes influencing access to justice and appropriate remedies for vulnerable communities. The activities also contribute to strengthening the Anti-Discrimination Coalition and increasing the capacity of NGOs to respond to situations of intersectional discrimination, especially against roma etnicity and gender equality. The workshops, courses, campaigns will also be addressed to meet the specific needs of the Roma people.
The added value brought by the partner is linked with the support given to newly established non-governmental organizations and local initiative groups by providing information on possible funding sources, engaging them in partnerships and projects and providing support in writing funding applications, thus contributing to the empowerment of disadvantaged communities by attracting resources and by given them the resources to implement the local action plans.The beneficiaries of the project are: 10 member organisations of the Anti-Discrimination Coalition, and 10 new organisations working in the field (organisations will have access to a strategic planning process that increases organisational capacity), 300 victims of discrimination and hate crimes receive primary legal assistance, 6 discrimination cases will be selected to be solved by experts, 90 citizens participate in direct advocacy meetings, 15 young people from vulnerable groups will be trained and over 100,000 people reach out with advocacy and information messages.
Summary of project results
The project addressed the lack of visibility of the victims and acts of discrimination and hatred, invisibility that contributes to the impunity of the perpetrators and the indolence of the authorities. The problem is increased by the difficulty of access to justice in Romania, given that most victims do not know their rights and procedures
legal means by which they can obtain remedies, especially victims who come from vulnerable groups.
The project responds to the causes that influence access to justice and appropriate remedies for vulnerable communities by:
• Advocacy based on self-representation for the modification and strengthening of the legislative framework regarding hate crimes and the prevention and combating of discrimination;
• Increasing communities'' access to existing anti-discrimination remedies, through the development of legal assistance services
primary, tools and info resources.
Although not all the activities in the project were carried out, most of the planned activities were achieved, adapting to the needs of the Anti-Discrimination Coalition and the beneficiaries, victims of discrimination, as follows: 312 beneficiaries received legal assistance, thus increasing access to anti-discrimination remedies for people vulnerable to discrimination, on multiple criteria; The Anti-Discrimination Coalition now has 19 members, and a total of 20 organizations have been involved in organizational development processes (strategic planning and assessment, training); 5 young people were involved in a legal mentoring program and 10 others became anti-discrimination trainers; 9 cases of strategic litigation were taken over in the project - 3 additional, one of which at the Court of Justice of the European Union, with an impact at the level of the entire EU; 2 reports on discrimination in education and health and 5 videos on discrimination produced that are used as resources by CAD organizations and beyond. There are also unplanned results, but which show the impact of the project, especially in the area of advocacy: the adoption of the National Strategy for the surveillance, control and prevention of HIV/AIDS cases and the inclusion of the relevant CAD organizations in the Monitoring Committee; the amendment of art. 369 Incitement to violence, hatred or discrimination from the Criminal Code in order to respond to the concrete needs of investigating these cases; involvement in the decision-making process regarding Education Laws so that discrimination based on sexual orientation is not allowed in the educational process; involvement in the draft recommendations to the Ministry of Labor for the alignment of the Labor Code with the standards of the ILO Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work (C190) which were taken over in a draft law; contribution to internal NCCD (CNCD) procedures for the solution of petitions.
Main Results:
- 312 beneficiaries received legal assistance, thus increasing access to anti-discrimination remedies for people vulnerable to discrimination, on multiple criteria;
- The Anti-Discrimination Coalition now has 19 members, and a total of 20 organizations have been involved in the organizational development process (strategic planning and assessment, training);
- 5 young people were involved in a legal mentoring program and 10 others became anti-discrimination trainers;
- 9 cases of strategic litigation were taken over in the project - 3 additional, with savings achieved in the project, one of which will be at the Court of Justice of the European Union, with an impact at the level of the entire EU;
- 2 reports on discrimination in education and health and 5 videos on discrimination produced that are used as resources by CAD organizations and beyond. There are also unplanned results, but which show the impact of the project, especially in the area of advocacy: the adoption of the National Strategy for the surveillance, control and prevention of HIV/AIDS cases and the inclusion of the relevant CAD organizations in the Monitoring Committee, the amendment of art. 369 Incitement to violence, hatred or discrimination from the Criminal Code to respond to the specific needs of investigating these cases,
- involvement in the decision-making process regarding Education Laws so that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is not allowed in the educational process, recommendations regarding the draft of the Ministry of Labor to align the Labor Code with the standards of the ILO Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work (C190) which were taken over in a draft law, contribution to the final form of CNCD''s internal procedures for resolving petitions.
Summary of bilateral results
he added value brought by the partner is linked with the support given to newly established non-governmental organizations and local initiative groups by providing information on possible funding sources, engaging them in partnerships and projects and providing support in writing funding applications, thus contributing to the empowerment of disadvantaged communities by attracting resources and by given them the resources to implement the local action plans.