Black Sea Regional Conference „Enabling the Civic Space for Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Assembly and Association”
21 July 2017, Kiev
Black Sea Regional Conference on Human Rights and Freedoms was organized by the initiative of the “Free Citizen” Civic Initiatives Support Center NGO (Yerevan, Armenia) in partnership with the GlobalFocus Center (Bucharest, Romania) and the Protection of Rights without Borders NGO (Yerevan, Armenia), with logistic coordination of the Romanian NGDO FOND and with support of European Commission in Kiev (Ukraine) on 21 July 2017.
The Conference gathered together representatives of 30 organizations and networks, as well as representatives of the state bodies from 8 Non-EU Black Sea Synergy countries dealing in the field of Human Rights and Freedoms to discuss the topic „Enabling the Civic Space for Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Assembly and Association”, and to create a Network of regional NGOs and experts for further cooperation. 15 presentations, including 8 country presentations were made at a conference, which was followed by the Q&A and discussions with the active involvement of the participants.
The number of participants per country: Ukraine (host) – 3, Armenia – 5, Azerbaijan – 3, Belarus -2, Georgia – 3, Moldova -2, Russia – 2, Turkey – 2, Romania – 5, Bulgaria – 2, France – 1. In total – 30.
Based on the made presentations a Resolution on Deteriorated Situation of Human Rights in the Black Sea Region has been developed by the Conference participants.
The results of the Conference:
- Common understanding and relevant viewpoints for the freedom of expression and for the freedom of assembly was established, which was fixed in the Resolution of the Conference.
- 30 representatives of the genuine Human Rights organizations and decision-makers from 8 Non-EU Black Sea Synergy countries and some EU MS participated at the conference;
- The situation in each of 8 Non-EU Black Sea Synergy countries was presented;
- The mechanism of cooperation between EU and non-EU countries (transfer of expertise facilitation) was presented and discussed;
- The network of NGOs from 8 non-EU and some EU countries, working in the field of Human Rights and Freedoms was created;
- Resolution of the Black Sea Regional Conference on Human Rights on the situation with the SCO and Civic activists in the region was drafted and developed based on the presentations made during the Conference. The final adoption of the Resolution happened online, a few weeks after the event.
Here you can see the Agenda, Report, and Follow-Up Activities Plan of the Conference, as well as the Human Rights Watch World Report – 2017.
“Free Citizen” Civic Initiatives Support Center NGO Press-Service
