Since 2015, I have the honour to chair the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe. The Conference of INGOs is a civil society assembly whose aim is to represent European civil society as the institutional civil society pillar within the Council of Europe and to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law through civil society in Europe, alongside the Secretary General, the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities the European Court of Human Rights and the Commissioner for Human Rights.
Our priorities for 2018-2021 are as follows
1. To protect and reinforce freedom of association and associated rights and to contribute to the democratic security in Council of Europe member states
2. To observe and reinforce civil participation in the decision-making within the Council of Europe and in its member states
3. To contribute to building an inclusive society and protect access to education and to social, cultural and economic rights by vulnerable groups 4. Contribute to the blossoming of a modern European Cultural Identity
5. Continue to develop the institutional strengthening process of the Conference of INGOs to respond in a relevant way to the institutional evolution of the Council of Europe and geopolitical challenges.
Three integrated approaches to these priorities are chosen: - To reinforce gender equality mainstreaming - To integrate the youth perspective and reinforce youth participation - To integrate the migration and post-migration perspective (of the migrants and NGOs' which support them.
Civil participation in political decision making is an urgent question which determinates the state of our liberal democracy in Europe.