MINELRES: Training Opportunities for NGOs on Using European Union Race Equality and Framework Directives

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Original sender: Francoise Barlet <fbarlet@nicem.org.uk>


Dear Sir, Madam, 

NICEM and ENAR are organising a series of training sessions across
Europe, involving NGOs from all 25 European member states. 

This project, called SOLID, is aimed at the achievement of the effective
transposition and implementation of the European Union Race Equality and
Framework Directives through empowerment, capacity building, and
partnership. The programme will run for 2 years 2005-2006 and it is
important that we reach as many European NGOs as possible so that a
large and varied network of organisations can be created in order for
the new legislation to be applied in a consistent and efficient manner
across Europe.
 
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further information
on the project or the partners. 


Best regards, 

Francoise

Francoise Barlet
SOLID Project administrator
NICEM
Tel 0044 2890 238645
Fax 0044 2890 319485
-----------------

Dear Friend,

RE. SOLID PROJECT (Full travel and accommodation costs will be provided) 

The partners in the SOLID project (Strategies on Litigation Tackling
Discrimination in EU Countries) would like to invite you to apply for an
exciting new European training programme aimed at the achievement of the
effective transposition and implementation of the European Union Race
Equality and Framework Directives through empowerment, capacity
building, and partnership. The purpose of the programme is to build
capacity  of community activists to use the new laws. 

The training will consist of a series of training sessions involving
groups of NGO representatives from each of the 25 EU member states.
Countries will be grouped geographically, with trainings held in 6
regions across Europe (including 2 pilots) in order to facilitate the
creation of support networks. Specific attention will also be paid to
the national situation in each country, with over half the training
carried out in country groups and facilitated by a national advisory
panel member, fluent in both English and the national language. You
don't need to be a lawyer to take part!

You will find attached an application pack including 2 information
sheets providing details of the courses and an application form. We hope
that you will find this project of interest.

If you believe that this training could also benefit any of your
contacts, we would be grateful if you could forward the details of our
project to them.

Should you require any further information please contact Tansy
Hutchinson, project co-ordinator at thutchinson@nicem.org.uk or
Francoise Barlet, project administrator at fbarlet@nicem.org.uk.

Thank you in anticipation of your cooperation,

Yours sincerely,


Tansy Hutchinson
Project co-ordinator
-----------------------------


Information Sheet 1

Strategies on Litigation tackling Discrimination in EU Countries (SOLID)
Information on Training Seminars

Project partners
Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (Lead Partner)
European Network Against Racism (Core Partner)
Public Interest Law Initiative
European Roma Rights Centre
Interights
National Bureau against Racial Discrimination (LBR)
Documentation and Advisory Centre on Racial Discrimination (DRC/DACoRD)

Aim
The project aims at the achievement of effective transposition and
implementation of the European Union Race Equality and Framework
Directives through empowerment, capacity building and partnership,
promoting equality for Ethnic and Racial Minority groups across the
European Union.

Overview
The deadlines for the transposition of the Race Equality Directive and
the Framework Employment Directive have passed. Not all countries have
transposed the Directives, and of those that have there are a
significant number where this does not meet the minimum standards. The
lack of sufficient implementation in many countries leads to a lack of
access to justice for victims of discrimination, and significant legal
uncertainty. It is in the interests of the European Union and the NGO
community to have effective and uniform transposition and implementation
of the two Directives within the EU, in order to achieve effective legal
protection against discrimination and remedies from legal protection.

For this to be realised, a holistic strategy needs to be taken which
includes, but is not restricted to, litigation and the identification of
test cases. The project will train groups of NGO representatives from
each of the 25 EU Member States, not only in the standards of the
Directives, but also in strategic litigation, and the development of
national strategies on litigation and support. This will create a cadre
of trained experts who can identify test cases and work in partnership
with other organisations, including National Equality Bodies, Trade
Unions and other NGOs, to support victims of discrimination.
We also aim to make a crucial connection between NGOs and lawyers. Too
many people within the NGO community believe that the law is too remote,
while too many lawyers perpetuate this myth. Through this approach gaps
in transposition can be filled, the resulting laws will be implemented
effectively, and we will begin to see real change in the experiences of
communities that face discrimination.

Countries will be grouped geographically, with trainings held in six
regions across Europe (including pilots). This will facilitate the
creation of national and regional support networks, and increase the
regional networking of organisations. Specific attention will also be
paid to the national situation of each country, and there will be
specific sessions to enable you to apply the learning you have gained
and develop concrete actions at the national level.

National Strategies on Litigation and Support
A key objective of the SOLID project is to facilitate the development of
national strategies on litigation and support for each EU member state.
The development of national strategies is an important method of
ensuring the training is not a one-off event, and is able to have
further impacts beyond the life of the project, including longer term
strategies of sustainability. These strategies must be drawn up by the
participants themselves, working in collaboration, and the training will
contain facilitated sessions where participants working in the same
country can collaborate to produce a national strategy that is relevant
and appropriate. The details of the national strategies will be for the
participants in the training to decide, our role is to facilitate the
process. In general, it would be envisaged that strategies would include
a 12 month action plan of activities possibly including dissemination of
learning, support for victims, identification of test cases, networking,
partnership, capacity building and support.

Recruitment
The SOLID Partners want to ensure that organisations and individuals
participating in the training are able to contribute to and benefit from
the goals of the SOLID project, particularly the development of
longer-term measures, in a strategic manner.

The process of recruitment and selection of training participants is
important in ensuring this can happen. Primary selection criteria will
relate to the organisation, as participation in the training is for the
benefit of organisations, not individuals. However, individuals
nominated by selected organisations need to be in a position to bring
the learning obtained back to the organisation, and to develop and
implement the National Strategy.

The training is targeted at organisations (mainly NGOs, but this can
include Trade Unions etc when appropriate) who work directly with ethnic
and racial minority groups and either (a) already offer support to
victims of race discrimination (not limited to legal support) or (b) be
in a position to offer this support. The organisation must be willing to
commit to the production and implementation of a national strategy on
litigation and support following the full training programme, including
the development of a longer term strategy. Organisations don't have to
work solely on race equality, and you don't have to be a lawyer!

In 2005 we are holding 2 pilot trainings. The 1st Pilot will be held in
Brussels, Belgium on the 29th September-2d October, training people from
Slovakia, Belgium and Sweden. The 2nd pilot will be held in Budapest,
Hungary on the 27th-30th October with participants from Hungary, Italy
and the UK. 

In 2006 we will be holding 4 training sessions:
- Training 1 will be held in Germany in January with participants from
Austria, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. 
- Training 2 will be held in Spain in March with participants from
France, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Spain. 
- Training 3 will be held in Denmark in May with participants from
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. 
- Training 4 will be held in the Netherlands in September with
participants from Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands, the Republic of
Ireland and Slovenia. 

Early applications for the 2006 trainings would be welcomed.

This project is supported by the European Community Action Programme to
combat Discrimination (2001-2006). This programme was established to
support the effective implementation of new EU anti-discrimination
legislation. The six-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can
help shape the development of appropriate and effective
anti-discrimination legislation and policies, across the EU-25, EFTA and
EU candidate countries.

The Action Programme has three main objectives. These are:
1. To improve the understanding of issues related to discrimination
2. To develop the capacity to tackle discrimination effectively
3. To promote the values underlying the fight against discrimination

For More information see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/fundamental_rights/index_en.htm
------------------

Information sheet 2

Training Seminars of the SOLID project in 2005-2006
Information sheet on criteria & application form

Please read this before completing the application form

In 2005 the SOLID project is holding 2 pilot trainings. In 2006 we will
hold 4 trainings.

The 1st Pilot will be held in Brussels on the 22nd-25th September 2005,
training people from Slovakia, Belgium and Sweden. The 2nd pilot will be
held in Budapest, Hungary on the 27th - 30th October 2005 with
participants from Hungary, Italy and the UK. 

In 2006 we will be holding 4 training sessions:
- Training 1 will be held in Germany in January with participants from
Austria, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. 
- Training 2 will be held in Spain in March with participants from
France, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Spain. 
- Training 3 will be held in Denmark in May with participants from
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. 
- Training 4 will be held in the Netherlands in September with
participants from Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands, the Republic of
Ireland and Slovenia. 

The deadline for applications for Pilot 1 and 2 is the end of June 

Early applications for the 2006 trainings would be welcomed


Selection Criteria & Process

Criteria
The selection criteria cover both the organisation and the individual.
While the primary selection relates to the organisation, it is also
necessary to ensure that individuals nominated by selected organisations
are in a position (both in terms of their position in the organisation
and their skills) to bring the learning obtained back to the
organisation, and to develop and implement the national strategy.

The partners wish to achieve a balance of backgrounds and experience
within the training and within the NGOs from each country especially in
relation to the role of the organisation in the development and
implementation of the national strategy on litigation and support and
this will be taken into account in selecting participants. We will also
take into account what other training organisations and individuals have
been or will be involved in, especially under the Community Action
Programme, in order to ensure that different projects complement one
another. In this context it may be appropriate to select the same
participants where this brings added value and synergy between projects.

Organisation Criteria
1. The participating organisation must be an NGO. (The project is
targeted at NGOS, rather than the private sector, lawyers, judiciary
etc. Other training projects cover these areas, and the SOLID project
will complement these) THE SOLID PROJECT DEFINES THE TERM 'NGO' BROADLY 
2. The NGO must have a legitimate interest in contributing to the fight
against discrimination on the grounds of racial and ethnic origin with a
view to promoting the principle of equal treatment;
3. The NGO must either (a) already offer advice/support to victims of
race discrimination (not limited to legal support) or (b) be in a
position to offer this advice/support. Priority will be given to
organisations falling into category (a). This does not have to be the
sole purpose of the organisation, and in addition to Race Equality NGOS,
applications will be accepted from organisations working on a number of
grounds of discrimination, organisations working on Human Rights more
generally and single identity organisations.
4. The organisation must be willing to commit, with other participants,
to the production and implementation of a National Strategy on
Litigation and Support following the full training programme, including
the development of a longer term strategy (see Information Sheet 1 for
key further details);

Individual criteria

As well as wanting to ensure we have a mixture of organisations,
including community organisations as well as those already involved in
litigation, we also wish to ensure a mixture of skills and backgrounds
(including legal and non-legal), and the selection criteria and process
will take this into account.

1. Sufficient link to the NGO represented (ideally an employee of the
NGO, although other links, such as lawyers or case workers who work with
the organisation, will be considered);
2. Relevant experience working in/with an NGO on advocacy. This can
include (i) actual litigation experience (ii) lawyers or non-lawyers
with some knowledge of the legal issues and (iii) those with NGO
community activist experience. Advocacy is defined as "Action in support
of or on behalf of individuals and/or communities facing social
exclusion, inequality and discrimination, that aims at securing the
rights of such individuals and groups through means of support,
lobbying, empowerment, PR, campaigning, litigation etc."
3. A strong interest in discrimination law and its enforcement;
4. Sufficient language skills in English to participate fully in the
training (including writing, reading and speaking skills). 

Selection Process
Selection will be made by the SOLID Project partners on the basis of the
above criteria.

The application form can be downloaded, and should be completed and
signed by the applicant. It must also be signed by the appropriate
representative of the organisation (Chair of Board or equivalent),
clearly stating the organisation's willingness to make the commitments
outlined above.

The completed application form and any supporting material must be
submitted by fax or by post to the address on the application form at
your earliest convenience. E-mails will not be accepted unless scanned
original signatures are included, or unless the last page of the form
including original signatures is faxed or posted to the address on the
application form.

Travel & accommodation

The SOLID project will reimburse reasonable travel costs for
participants to travel to the training and provide accommodation and
subsistence for the duration of the training. This is on the condition
that participants attend all the sessions of the training. Absence from
any part of the training without good cause and prior agreement will
mean that we will be unable to reimburse costs.

If you would like further information, please contact:

Tansy Hutchinson (Project Co-ordinator) or Patrick Yu (European
Co-ordinator)
Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities
3rd Floor Ascot House
24-31 Shaftesbury Square
Belfast
BT2 3DW
Tel: (0044) 028 90238645
e-mail: thutchinson@nicem.org.uk or patrickyu@nicem.org.uk

If you would like to register your interest for the trainings being held
in 2006, please contact Francoise Barlet (Administrator of the SOLID
Project) at the above address. E-mail
fbarlet@nicem.org.uk

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