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Board

President: Zafeiris TSIFTZIS

Deputy President: Lambrini BASDEKI

Secretary General: Kyriakos CHRYSIDIS

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Brief description

The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg (France), now covers virtually the entire European continent, with its 47 member countries. Founded on 5 May 1949 by 10 countries, the Council of Europe seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals.

Documentation

• Rules Applying to the Council of Ministers for the Ministerial Summit of the Council of Europe
• Guidelines for Council of Europe Ministerial Declaration Writing

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Agenda

Topic Area A: The linguistic minorities in the framework of intercultural education

The latest Council of Europe programs of international co-operation in Strasbourg focused on the democratization of language learning for the mobility of persons and ideas, and on the promotion of the European heritage of cultural and linguistic diversity. The projects assisted member states in implementing reforms aimed at developing learners’ communication skills and encouraged innovation in language teaching and teacher training, with an emphasis on an institutional-centered approach. While continuing to promote innovation for successful communication and intercultural skills, more recent projects have increasingly addressed the social and political dimensions of language learning, focusing on language education for democratic citizenship, diversification in language learning, improving coherence and transparency in language provision, and the language education rights of minorities. The European Year of Languages (2001) led to further initiatives to support member states in developing policy responses to the new challenges to social cohesion and integration. Language skills remain essential if individuals are to benefit from opportunities in employment and mobility but they are also necessary to participate actively in the social and political processes which are an integral part of democratic citizenship in the multilingual societies of Council of Europe member states.

This increasing focus on language policies for democratic citizenship and social cohesion reflects the priority which the Council of Europe accords to education for citizenship and intercultural dialogue in the 21st century. It is reflected within the goal of education for plurilingual and intercultural citizens capable of interacting in a number of languages across linguistic and cultural boundaries.

Intercultural Education is a new challenge for the Council of Europe. The Council of Ministers within its Recommendations is aiming to raise the awareness of decision-makers, educators and teachers about the implications of the religious dimension of intercultural education. It also seeks to draw their attention to examples of positive experiences and of new methods and approaches in intercultural education in general, in both curricular and extra-curricular activities. Which should be the new methods and approaches in it, given the circumstances under which this kind of education is functioning in the 21st century, an era that is stigmatized by immigration and ethnic minorities that need to be protected?

Study Guide

Topic Area B: The right of Roma women to health

Protecting people, whoever they are, wherever they live, is a Council of Europe priority. Membership of the Council of Europe presupposes the obligation for states to ensure their people’s prerogative to basic human rights, and among such basic rights is the right to health protection.

Health protection and promotion are two lines of action used within the Council of Europe to develop an ethical European health policy, by:
· combining human rights, social cohesion and health agendas;
· harmonizing member states’ health policies in terms of safety and quality;
· developing preventive medicine and health education; and
· promoting patients’ rights, access to health care, citizen participation and protection for vulnerable groups.

The right to the protection of health lies at the heart of the activities carried out by the Council of Europe in the social domain. National representatives from 47 member states work together with specialist experts to set out minimum guarantees to safeguard human rights and indeed patients’ rights at the European level.

Practical considerations of health care are discussed as are ethical and policy considerations. There is democratic participation of citizens and patients and coordinated efforts by national authorities, experts, other international organizations and civil society to make visible progress in the domain of health.

Access to health care is a right and a prerequisite for good health without which full participation in social, economic and political life cannot be enjoyed: it is inseparable from access to public services such as education, housing, and social protection, and a precondition to accessing and maintaining employment.

Romani women confront many barriers to promoting their own health needs. These barriers often derive from their own, Roma community. Despite documented cases of discrimination, relatively little attention has been paid to Romani women or health compared to other issues affecting Romani communities.

States Parties must guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race or ethnicity, to equality before the law in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. Specifically in relation to health, States have a duty to facilitate the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health on an equitable basis. The States also have a significant role to play when obstacles to accessing public health care derive from the Roma community itself, such as through unequal gender relations.

Romani women are in general the primary care givers in their communities. But what about their own health needs? Who needs to protect them? Which programs should be developed? What should the States do at a European, National and Local level? How can these women be given access to proper health standards, especially when their own communities prevent them from having them?

Study Guide

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