Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

This #IDAHOT let's celebrate some victories! 🏳️🌈 In #Ukraine, president Zelenskyy asked the Prime Minister to consider presenting a bill legalising civil partnerships for same-sex couples 🏳️🌈 In 2023, #Moldova included sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds to be protected from discrimination 🏳️🌈 Moldova is also the first EaP country to have set up an independent Equality Council with legally binding powers to promote equality and fight discrimination But let's continue mobilising as more remains to be done: ❌ In #Georgia, the Georgian Dream government pushes for a constitutional law which would ban all public gatherings in support of same-sex families or relations. This is a direct attack on #FreeSpeech and Freedom of Assembly ❌ #Azerbaijan, #Armenia and #Belarus respectively rank second, fourth and fifth worst on ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Map which measures laws and policies that have a direct impact on LGBTI people’s #humanrights 🏳️🌈 We encourage the #EuropeanUnion to continue supporting the rights of LGBTI people in its engagement with EaP countries Find out more on this topic in our #EaPIndex: https://lnkd.in/e8Az6gUk

📣 We are #hiring! Are you a final-year student or young graduate looking to expand your skills in creative #communication? Do you want to develop your skills working at the crossroads of communication and EU #advocacy? If you have a talent for writing and/or some experience in audio-visual communication (photography, graphic design, video motion or video editing) we want to hear from you! 🗓 Apply before: 14 June 2024 Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eGjXSai8 #CauseCommunication #Jobs #NGOJobs #NotForProfit #Recruitment

The ongoing situation in #Georgia is dramatic, and today's final vote adopting the #foreignagents law signals the Georgian government's criminal commitment to sink the country deeper into authoritarianism. My thoughts go to all the civil society colleagues and friends in Georgia, who fought hard against this law, who have been facing and will face intolerable intimidation, harassment and persecution for their work. At the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum we will keep fighting alongside you for a European Georgian and stand ready to support you with all our means.

The infamous Russian-style “foreign agent” law was adopted today by the parliamentary majority of the Georgian Dream ruling party. With the adoption of this Russian-inspired bill, Georgia's democracy needs an urgent lifeline. In solidarity with the Georgian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and our Georgian membership, the members of the Steering Committee of the EaP CSF: 🔴Urge the President of Georgia to veto the law;   ⚪Urge the Georgian government to uphold Georgian people's fundamental rights, including the freedom of assembly and association (which among others also entails access to funding), in line with Georgia's international obligations; 🔴Urge the Georgian authorities to end their crackdown on civil society and media, and investigate all cases of ill-treatment, harassment and abuse against protestors, including EaP CSF members; ⚪Call on the Council of the European Union to adopt sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leadership of the Georgian Dream ruling party and all 84 parlamentarians who voted in favour of the law; 🔴Call on the EU institutions to carefully monitor political developments in Georgia ahead of the parliamentary elections this October; ⚪Call on the EU institutions and EU member states to continue to engage with and provide emergency support for civil society and media. Read our full statement 🔽 https://t.ly/rOuMS  

📢 We are hiring! The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum is looking for an Events and Admin Officer with solid event organisation and office management experience to join its growing team in the organisation’s office in Brussels.  The Events and Admin Officer will be responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing all events organised by the organisation, including the yearly EaP CSF Summit – a large conference gathering +300 participants – as well as the EaP Index launch event and dissemination events, EaP Youth conference, EaP CSF workshops, seminars, webinars, team meetings, statutory meetings and other related events of the Forum. Additionally, the candidate will oversee administrative tasks to ensure the smooth functioning of the office, maintain relations with various office suppliers and contractors, handling phone calls, emails, invitations, and correspondence. Find out more about this great professional opportunity 👇 https://lnkd.in/dV_vKQzP

Today, the Georgian Parliament is set to adopt the controversial law on "the transparency of foreign influence", defying hundreds of thousands of protestors who have taken the streets for weeks now. Many of them are our colleagues, Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum members and delegates from #Georgia. The level of repression against civil society we've seen over the past couple of days gives us an indication of what may happen when the law is enacted. During the last week, many of them, including Natia Kuprashvili, Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum National Facilitator in Georgia and Steering Committee member, have been targeted by a widespread smear campaign. Natia and colleagues receive abusive phone calls filled with threats and violent language, have their faces displayed on posters all over the city - in front of their homes and offices, are labelled "foreign agents". All this for taking part in protests for Georgia's European future. This unprecedented assault on all fundamental freedoms, civil society and media is is a dark signal of the repressive environment the Russian law leads towards. The Georgian government must scrap this bill today and act to ensure that all journalists and activists conduct their work without fear of intimidation! Yes to Europe, No to Russian Law. #NoToRussianLaw

United in diversity. For the past 74 years, the European Union has been delivering prosperity and growth to its member states. But more importantly, it has been delivering hope. Hope that another way, a peaceful way, was possible among nations that were so often marred by war. The #EuropeanUnion has shown that despite being diverse in their culture and traditions, Europeans could find unity to achieve peace and prosperity. Today, three countries of the #EasternPartnership are candidates to join the European Union. Georgians, Moldovans and Ukrainians are working to join a community of nations sharing the same democratic values. They stand against those who, through intimidation and war, deny them their hopes. This #EuropeDay we reaffirm our commitment to help them achieve #EU integration despite the challenges they face. Photo: Pro-EU Georgian citizens are targeted with water cannons during a protest against the Georgian Dream’s Foreign Agents Law.

The Georgian government's recent reintroduction of a draft law on CSOs has prompted thousands of citizens to take to the streets in protest. Join our online event to learn more about the current situation in Georgia & the EU's potential response. 👉https://lnkd.in/epUKG7Ez

Two of the Azerbaijani experts I closely worked with in the elaboration of the Eastern Partnership Index #EaPIndex, a flagship project of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, are now risking many years in prison: Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu and Anar Mammadli. They both denied their charges as unlawful and politically motivated. Their detention belongs to a trend of repression that persisted for the past +10 years in Azerbaijan and accelerated more and more in the past couple of months. With COP29 approaching (November 2024), the wave of arrests of independent voices - activists, journalists and political opposition figures - made me reflect on the contradiction between Azerbaijan's international human rights commitments and domestic repression. On behalf of the Secretariat of the EaP CSF, I shared a few thoughts on this topic with the EUobserver. "Since February 2023, the number of political prisoners tripled. Over 10 years, the very essence of civil society – the ability to advocate and hold power to account – has been systematically eroded to the extent that the survival of independent civil society is now at stake. (...) As a #COP29 host country, #Azerbaijan must demonstrate on the global stage its genuine commitment to upholding fundamental rights. A first critical step in the right direction is the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners including Gubad Ibadoghlu and Anar Mammadli." Grateful to the EUobserver for picking up this op-ed and to my colleagues, Maxence Salendre and Tania Marocchi, for their encouragement to write this piece.

100 years of imprisonment. Added together, this is the sum of sentences handed out to 35 Belarusian media workers in 2023 alone. Today, #Belarus is Europe's most dangerous country for #journalists. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum' 2023 Civil Society Awardee), more than three years after the violent suppression of post-election protests, the Belarusian authorities continue to severely punish journalists and bloggers not only for social and political material but also for simply belonging to a journalistic organisation. Democracy dies without independent media work. We stand alongside media workers across the Eastern Partnership who are being targeted for their work. #JournalismIsNotACrime. Find out more about the 35 Belarusian #media workers currently behind bars at https://lnkd.in/ewBs58D9 #BecauseTheJournalist #СвабодуЖурналістам #WorldPressFreedomDay #PressFreedom #WPFD2024