UWE President Anne Negre attended the 15th meeting of the Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence  in Strasbourg on 5 December 2023. 

During the meeting, the Committee held an exchange of views with Maria-Andriani Kostopoulou, President of GREVIO, who presented the 4th General Report on GREVIO’s activities, as well as work in progress.

The Committee adopted recommendations, on the basis of GREVIO’s reports, addressed to the authorities of Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, North Macedonia and the Republic of Moldova.

The Committee also held a thematic discussion on national experiences and tools to address femicides, where Parties shared their initiatives and challenges to prevent and combat femicides.

Finally, the Committee of the Parties re-elected the members of the Bureau: Tanja Gonggrijp, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Council of Europe, as Chair; Gilberto Jerónimo, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Portugal to the Council of Europe, as first Vice-Chair; and Daniela Cujbă, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the Council of Europe, as second Vice-Chair, for a one-year mandate from 1 February 2024.

Important to mention here the the Declaration of Dublin, inspired by the Council of Europe’s  Istanbul Convention on violence against women, and expert findings on the implementation of the convention so far, states backing this  declaration on 30.09.2022, after a  two-day conference of justice ministers organised by Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of Europe.