On the 3rd and 4th of December, EPD will participate in the 17th annual EU-NGO Forum on Human Rights. The event is a conference that provides a venue for direct interaction and in depth discussion between representatives of global civil society and the EU institutions, EU Member States and international organisations on various topics related to the promotion and protection of human rights. The Forum is jointly organised by the European External Action Service and the European Commission in conjunction with the Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN), of which EPD is a member and part of the steering troika.
The Forum shall bring together representatives from Civil society organisations (CSOs) active in the fields of democracy and human rights from within and outside the EU/Europe and representatives from the Member States, the Council of the EU , the European Commission, the European Parliament, the EEAS, the United Nations, academia and think tanks. The occasion will also serve as a platform for an interactive exchange and genuine debate.
The theme of this year’s Forum will be “Protecting and Promoting Civil Society Space”, and more specifically:
- Analysis and monitoring of legal threats that undermine the work of civil society and how to build an enabling legal environment;
- How to develop effective response strategies and narratives to counter closing space for civil society;
- Ways of protecting freedom of peaceful assembly
- How to foster active and effective participation of civil society in decision making.
