On Wednesday, April 12th, 2023, the first videoconference meeting of the technical committee of the regional project of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Women's Access to Justice: Implementation of the Council of Europe Standards on Gender Equality and Violence against Women" took place. The new project will continue and develop the results of the previous project "Women's Access to Justice: Implementation of the Istanbul Convention and other European standards on gender equality", which was part of the Partnership for Good Governance, Phase II.
The event brought together experts from the CoE and the EU, as well as representatives from judicial training schools in the Eastern Partnership countries. The National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova was represented by Ecaterina Popa, Interim Director, and Olga Marandici, Head of the International Relations Section.
The meeting presented the work plan and development prospects of the project for the year 2023. In addition, the opportunity to continue mentoring programs to strengthen the skills of practitioners regarding the Istanbul Convention and gender equality standards was discussed, as well as the integration of gender perspective into the curricula of law faculties, the development of the regional network of justice professionals, and the collection of data on women's access to justice.
In her speech, Ecaterina Popa emphasized the full involvement of the National Institute of Justice in carrying out several actions both for the professional development of its beneficiaries, through continuous training seminars and institutionalized HELP courses, as well as for raising awareness, through organizing the republican competition of plastic arts for children "Generation Equality" and public lessons dedicated to the Istanbul Convention and women's access to justice.
The EU-CoE project "Women's Access to Justice: Implementation of the Council of Europe Standards on Gender Equality and Violence against Women", Phase III of the EU-CoE Partnership for Good Governance, will take place during the years 2023-2027. This project will contribute to the fight against and elimination of systemic barriers faced by women in accessing justice, both legal and institutional challenges, as well as socio-cultural barriers that materialize in the form of gender discrimination in the justice systems of Eastern Partnership countries.