ECNL held a successful regional training on freedom of peaceful assembly (FoA) in Budapest with over 20 civil society partners from the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership regions.
Building on the key findings of the country reports reports as well as practical questions raised at the regional expert conference in Skopje held in June, ECNL held a follow-up event to enhance CSOs’ knowledge on the facilitation of assemblies in practice, which in the long term is needed for their advocacy work on necessary legal changes. The training contributed to empowering CSOs to monitor the implementation of the right, identify violations and reflect protections of the right through their further work. Specifically, the event addressed challenges and good practices regarding policing of assemblies and engagement with law enforcement officials.
We worked with external trainers from the OSCE/ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, and other practitioners from the UK, Croatia and Hungary to build CSOs’ knowledge on facilitation of assemblies by law enforcement officials, addressing issues regarding monitoring assembly management, engagement with law enforcement, and how to use monitoring outcomes for policy work.