On Wednesday 20 September, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe published a report on North Macedonia covering the period since 2016, the date of the last review.
Among the advances, the experts note the creation of a new body to promote equality and combat discrimination, as well as actions to promote multiculturalism, inter-ethnic integration and tolerance in schools.
Major strides have also been taken to protect the LGBTI community, the report notes, including initiatives to combat hate crime.
These include training for law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges organised by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
More than 2,000 police officers took part, demonstrating a real desire to tackle the problem.
Positive initiatives have been taken to promote the integration of the Roma. However, there are still difficulties in terms of housing, education, employment and health.
Other areas of concern include the budgetary difficulties encountered by the new equality body and the Ombudsman’s office, the linguistic segregation between Macedonian and Albanian in the school system, the lack of action plans for the recognition of same-sex relationships and gender identity, and the persistent violence against people and organisations identifying as Bulgarian.
The report makes a series of recommendations for progress in these areas.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/8o0 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)