The NHC has obtained the Participatory Status with the Council of Europe. After a process that lasted almost a year, it is a recognition of the work that the NHC does to protect human rights activists at risk, support civilians and refugees, hold abusers to account, and bring justice to victims.
“The status will give us the opportunity to play an even more important role and to contribute at Council of Europe events and bodies such as the Parliamentary Assembly Sessions and the Human Rights Commissioner’s Office”, said Berit Lindeman, Secretary General of the NHC.
The new status within the plethora of the Council of Europe, Europe’s foremost human rights body, will allow the NHC to influence decision-makers by delivering statements, participating in sessions, holding side events and by delivering written statements and oral presentations.
NHC is one of the founding members of the Campaign to Uphold Rights in Europe (CURE), which is an initiative of leading civil society organizations from across the European continent to make the Council of Europe stronger and more effective. With the CURE campaign, we are committed to the founding idea and values of the Council of Europe, which is the advocate of a pan-European legal framework in human rights, democracy, and rule of law. Our goal is to empower the institution and to make it capable of upholding human rights standards and defending democratic standards in Europe.The Council of Europe has a long record of collaborating with human rights NGOs. With the participatory status, we can access Council of Europe spaces, engage with relevant structures and the mechanisms of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and promote civil society participation in the decision-making. NHC will be able to regularly attend the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) of the Council of Europe, which is the representative body of the INGOs that enjoy the Participatory Status.
Together with our partners, we will spare no effort towards advocating a better implementation of the ECHR and to strengthen Council of Europe’s responses to anti-democratic trends in Europe and persistent violations of the institution’s norms and standards.