Meeting with representatives of ministries and municipalities for needs assessment and training program in the field of discrimination

On July 28, 2020, the Academy of Justice in cooperation with UNDP, in order to design a training program for 2021 adequate to the training needs in the field of discrimination, through the ZOOM platform conducted the next meeting with the second working group who came from the ranks of ministries and municipalities, specifically departments and units dealing with human rights and gender equality.

The meeting focused on the summary which included the local and international legal framework in the field of discrimination and institutional mechanisms for protection against discrimination, as well as challenges and practical problems in the implementation of the legislation, with special emphasis on the Law on Discrimination and the Law on Kosovo's gender equality.

During discussions, the problems faced by ministries and municipalities with special emphasis on human rights officials and gender equality officers in the fight against discrimination were highlighted, including the violation of the rights of farmers, children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. Also were discussed about the gaps found in the Law on Protection against Discrimination, the compliance of the law with EU directives and the European Convention on Human Rights.

On the occasion of this meeting, the group provided recommendations for strengthening the capacity of officials dealing with this field, in order for them to be more efficient and functional in protection against discrimination. It was further requested that the questionnaire on training needs assessment and training curriculum development, to be completed and submitted with concrete topics based on the most frequent cases of discrimination encountered in practice.

Following the meetings on training needs assessment and development of the training curriculum for protection against discrimination is expected to be conducted also with the group of judges, prosecutors and professional associates in order to consume all sources of information and stakeholders who deal with this field.