The first-ever regional and national event on freedom of assembly titled: Safeguarding the Space for Peaceful Assembly in South-East Europe will take place on 25 – 26 August 2014 in Skopje. The conference will bring together national representatives from civil society organizations from the Balkan countries, EU representatives, OSCE/OIDHR experts, and public authorities.
More specifically, the event will look at current legal framework and safeguards in place to guarantee the enjoyment of freedom of assembly in practice. The conference will also identify how civil society, media, and public authorities, can better cooperate to advance the right to assembly in the region. The conference is organized by Reactor-Research in Action in cooperation with European Center for Non-Profit Law (ECNL), OSCE/ODIHR, and is a part of the USAID Civil Society Project, implemented by Foundation Open Society – Macedonia (www.civilsociety.mk).
The conference results will be taken forward to shape the further work of the project, and will inform future policy and research debates. Individual sessions are informed by a series of keynote speakers, including representatives of OSCE/OIDHR, ECNL, Constitutional Court of Macedonia, and prominent civil society organizations from the region. The conference will cover:
- Standards and practices in the area of assembly, as well as opportunities for redress
- Expert views on the challenges of global trends in use of freedom of assembly;
- Insights into different stakeholder perspectives and needs; and
- Assembly in the digital age: new technologies for organizing and monitoring assembly.
You can follow the conference on twitter through the twitter tag #freeassemblysee. The event will be live streamed at www.vozivo.mk