Digital Conference: Protecting Refugee, Migrant and Asylum-seeking Women and Girls against Violence

How can we protect displaced women and girls from abuse, violence and exploitation? Join the conference, “Protecting Refugee, Migrant and Asylum-seeking Women and Girls”, organized for members and friends of the SYNERGY Network to discuss and share experiences with the refugee crisis currently unfolding on the borders of Ukraine, building upon earlier experiences with refugee populations. The SYNERGY conference provides concrete and actionable guidance for receiving countries, potentially providing inspiration for cooperation under the EEA and Norway Grants.

Organizers: The Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the Council of Europe, with support from the FMO

Draft Agenda:

14.00 – 14.10 Opening session

• Welcome by Erik Sandsmark Idsøe, State Secretary the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security, and Tone Cecilia Engdahl, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Representation of Norway to the Council of Europe
• The protection of displaced women and girls, Roberto Olla, Head of the Human Dignity and Gender Equality Department at the Council of Europe

14.10 – 14.45 Challenges faced

• Ukrainians in displacement, Lilja Gretarsdottir, Head of Co-operation Programmes Division, Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards (DGI) at the Council of Europe
• First-hand account, Tetiana Antonchenko, project staff, Combatting Violence against Women in Ukraine (COVAW) project at the Council of Europe Kyiv Office (currently in displacement in Strasbourg, France)
• Equal treatment of refugee women and girls, Zeynep Usal-Kanzler, member of the Secretariat of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) at the Council of Europe 
• Displaced Roma in Ukraine and challenges faced, Valerie Poppe, Project Manager, Roma and Traveller’s Team at the Council of Europe

14.45 – 15.00 Coffee Break

15.00 – 15.35 European standards and guidance

• Gender-based asylum claims and non-refoulement: Articles 60 and 61 of the Istanbul Convention and the checklist with regard to women’s safety in transit and reception facilities, Louise Hooper, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers, UK
• Protecting migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee women from violence – Promising Practices, Francesca Montagna, member of the Secretariat of the Istanbul Convention Monitoring Mechanisms at the Council of Europe
• Protecting the rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls, Cécile Greboval, Programme Manager for Gender Mainstreaming, Gender Equality Advisor in the Gender Equality Division and Secretary of the Drafting Committee on Migrant Women at the Council of Europe

15.35 – 16.05 Interactive session: How to improve the protection of women and girls?

Sharing of ideas and exchange of successful practices among stakeholders and friends of the SYNERGY Network from Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and other countries and institutions.

• Prepared interventions

- Tatiana Chebac, Attorney at Law, Protection officer on vulnerabilities, Law Center of Advocates, UNHCR partner at the Palanca Border Crossing Point, Moldova

- Jan Austad, Policy Director, the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security

16.05 – 16.15: EEA and Norway Grants

• Migration, and Domestic and Gender-based violence, Eva Kløve, Head of Priority Sectors Unit, the Financial Mechanism Office

16.15 – Closing Up