First Regional Conference “Minority Protection in South East Europe”

Skopje, 26-27 November 2014

Speech by Juliana HOXHA (Albania, SOC), Vice-President, Representative of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress of the Council of Europe

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Dear Minister,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Minister, Mr Shabani, and all the organisers for having invited the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to this important event. I am pleased to represent the Congress here today at the launching conference of this project which aims at improving access to rights for minorities in South East Europe

I would also like to praise the efforts undertaken in this project to address, at various levels of government, the challenges ahead and the necessary steps to be carried out so as to bridge the gap between international commitments of a country and their implementation at local level.

This project includes a strong component based on the concrete practice in 36 municipalities which will implement field initiatives and will have the opportunity to raise their capacities, share experience with peers, and develop models based upon the Council of Europe standards which may be replicated by other peers.

In the Council of Europe Congress, we are convinced that local and regional governments and elected representatives are fully-fledged actors and stakeholders in creating conditions for the exercise of human rights in their communities and in ensuring their full implementation.

This is why the Congress is very supportive to this approach of putting standards into practice, of translating them into a day-to-day exercise and into changes in policies at local level. 

The Call for applications raised a considerable interest among local authorities from the seven beneficiary countries. The 150 applicants show both the need for such support, the validity of the method and why the Congress and the Council of Europe should continue supporting the protection of minorities at local level.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you know the Congress is a pan-European assembly of territorial authorities.  It is the only European body tasked with monitoring the state of local and regional democracy and the development of local and regional self-government throughout Europe. It has 636 members who hold elective mandate in the 47 member States.

The Congress in its overall works conveys an ambitious and demanding message to all those involved in the development of the European territories and in particular, to local authorities whom we consider as driving forces for prosperity and well-being of our citizens and for shaping our future.

In this respect, the European Urban Charter II: Manifesto for a new urbanity, launched in 2008, constituted an invitation to local authorities, in all their diversity and on the basis of shared European values, to implement the principles of ethical governance, sustainable development and greater solidarity in their public policies.

With this Manifesto, our ambition is that of a citizen-oriented public action, that of sustainable and environmentally friendly cities; it is also that of a cohesive city which ensures integration and equal treatment and access of all members of the community to public services and social rights and that of a city catalyst of knowledge and creativity, of learning and culture of all kinds.

We, local elected representatives have to fully bear the responsibility given to us by the citizens and we need to have ambitions for our towns and cities and all their inhabitants.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The priorities of the Congress for 2013-2016 include the fostering of greater respect of fundamental rights, the fight against discrimination and intolerance and helping to build citizen’s participation in the democratic process.

Human rights at local level has been on the Congress agenda, particularly since the adoption of Resolution 296 in 2010 defining the role of local and regional authorities in implementing human rights at local level.  Since then we have adopted reports on the indicators needed to measure the impact of awareness raising activities and on good practices that local authorities can exchange. Our Resolution 364 of 2014 underlined the importance of establishing an education system that must reach all and cater to their different needs. This often means on-going anti-discrimination efforts in order to work against structural discrimination of specific groups such as national minorities among others.

Therefore the inclusion of minorities and territorial self-government are a major concern for the Congress as we believe that local and regional self-government and the principle of subsidiarity are means of protecting the many minorities present in Europe, where millions of people live in countries where their specific ethnic or language group does not constitute the majority. The Congress has also encouraged transfrontier co-operation as a means of attenuating geo-political divisions that result from the existence of minority groups sharing the same language and the same culture across national borders.

Furthermore, the Congress has developed several projects and adopted recommendations on various aspects of the issue. One of the examples is the Alliance European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion which was officially launched on 20th March 2013 by the Congress.

Since it was established, the Alliance has favoured an exchange of know-how and experience between participating cities and regions so as to support, through mutual learning, their political will to further enhance Roma inclusion at local and regional level and to strengthen their capacities to rally other Mayors and Presidents of regions as well as other key stakeholders.

Building on this, the Alliance will now strive to increase the visibility of Roma inclusion activities of Alliance participating cities and regions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Congress believes that the acceptance of diversity is an asset for European integration - and not as an obstacle to it - and is essential for the Europe we want to build. However, everywhere in Europe, the protection of linguistic and cultural diversity and the recognition of minorities has been - and still is in certain member countries -, problematic.

The most recent Congress recommendation on the subject, “Promoting diversity through intercultural education and communication strategies” was adopted in October 2014. It includes a number of practical steps such as:

-               the establishment of “local partnerships for diversity” with different stakeholders such as educational institutions, the media, civil society and the private sector;

-               The creation of a system of intercultural mediation  between the different cultural groups;

-               The organization of training courses in intercultural skills for local and regional administrative departments, local and regional staff and social services staff;

-               The setting up of neighborhood intercultural centres and organise activities involving the whole local population.

It also promotes cultural exchanges of all kinds. It proposes to engage in co-operation with civil society, and particularly with youth organisations, with a view to promoting the teaching of diversity. It invites local authorities to ensure that minority groups and migrants learn the local languages and are taught about the host country’s culture as well as its local laws and traditions. On this respect, through the recommendation on Language education in regional or minority languages of 2007, the Congress introduced detailed descriptions of the educational models for regional or minority languages.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

These recommendations are examples of the implementation of the basic Council of Europe treaties, the most important of which being the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 10 November 1994. I will let the experts give you an insight on those key texts.

But I would like to say a few words on the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages as the Congress was at the origin of this text. The Charter was opened for signature in 1992 and entered into force in 1998. 25 Council of Europe member states have ratified it. Since 2005 no additional country has signed it. Concerned by the situation, the Congress organised a seminar in December 2013 in Paris to take stock of the situation of Regional or minority languages in Europe today. The political, economic and social processes under way seem not conducive to increased efforts to promote regional or minority languages.

The Congress Bureau adopted a declaration endorsing the conclusions of the Seminar and recalling the political will required to achieve further progress and results, in particular when the various players at local, regional, national and European level have to join forces. It called on member states to ratify the Charter which they committed to when joining the Council of Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

These brief thoughts and overview of some of the Congress activities show that there are clearly synergies to be made between the Council of Europe intergovernmental activities and the Congress, as well as between your respective ministries and the local and regional authorities in your countries.

I would like to conclude reiterating the Congress support to the project “Promoting Human Rights and Minority Protection in South East Europe”. We look forward to the results of the field activities that municipalities will be implementing.

I wish you every success in your important work.

Thank you for your attention