Cooperation with the CoE, within Demo/HR/RoL

Initially funding for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine was included. Amendments to the agreement was made thereafter for additional funding and reallocations. This included a reallocation between Azerbaijan and Belarus and additional funding for Ukraine and Georgia. Ukraine has been the country of key focus for Swedish cooperation.   Below are listed some examples of results per Action Plan:  Belarus - Strengthening Democratic Youth Participation in Belarus Activities during the project was delayed and not realised, and Sida hence notes that the project has not been implemented according to plan. The project resulted in a Belarussian version of "Compass" and a glossary with terminology in area of non-formal education, human rights education and youth work. This is expected to result in a wider group of competent and experienced youth leaders, trainers and multipliers capable of reinforcing youth organisations and youth work in Belarus. A new Council of Europe Action Plan for Belarus for 2019-2021 has been adopted where Sida continues to give particular importance to supporting gender issues, youth and civil society.  Armenia Action Plan 2015-2018 The Action Plan includes four sectors: protecting and promoting human rights; ensuring justice; combating threats to the rule of law; and promoting democratic governance. Sida notes that according to the CoE report Armenia has made good overall progress. For example, Armenia made sustained effort to further implement the democratic reform agenda within among others independence of the judiciary with the adoption of the Judicial Code, the adoption of the Civil Procedure Code and the new Law on Mediation, and hence helping to improve access to justice and enhance effectiveness of the justice system. Inmates' human rights has been enhanced by the establishment of a Penitentiary Medicine Center. The Investigative Committee, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), judges and investigators have been strengthened in order to fight impunity and ill-treatment. Additionally a law against domestic violence has been adopted and the signing of the Istanbul Convention in January 2018 as well as the strengthening of the police force in line with the above. The decentralisation process has been enhanced following the adoption of the Law on Inter-Community Unions and the revision of the Governmental Road Map for the Decentralisation of Competencies. Based on the positive results a new Action Plan for Armenia covering the period 2019 to 2022 has been adopted. Georgia Action Plan 2016-2019 Sida notes that according to the CoE report there has been a good progress achieved in the CoE cooperation with Georgia. Positive achievements have been made in enhancing parliamentary oversight of government execution of judgement handed down by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and in enhancing access to health care within the prison system, especially mental health care. Adoption of the draft Law on Facilitating the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and the adoption of the Law on Advocates. Gaps have been identified in national legislation within among others anti-discrimination, hate crimes and speeches etc. Additionally, according to the CoE´s report, there is a visible progress in awareness and capacity among Georgian professionals and the non-governmental sectors on among others the implementation of standards for protecting women against violence following Georgia's adoption of the Istanbul Convention. Shortcomings are still pending in the electoral process regarding the misuse of administrative resources and media bias.  Ukraine Action Plan 2018-2021 Sida notes the many positive results which have been achieved as stated in the CoE report. Among others human rights protection has been enhanced following the adoption of new criminal justice legislation and through an increased institutional capacity to address violations of the rights of various categories of citizens, including IDPs and Roma; the rehabilitative approach to offenders has been introduced in the policies and procedures in the prison system; rule of law strengthened by the introduction of the constitutional complaints mechanisms; a fully functioning public broadcaster exists; pace of decentralisation reform has increased with 45% of Ukrainians reported improvements in their lives; capacity of media and NGOs to monitor and report on elections has been enhanced. Further progress has been made for internal regulations of the prosecution services, improvements in the implementation in the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) etc. Good practices regarding civil society participation and gender are included.  Pending reforms include for example issues such as countering corruption, increase independence and accountability of the prosecution service, enhancing the protection of minorities, execution of judgements and continued decentralisation. Other pending issues include among others constitutional reform on decentralisation, electoral reform and the ratification of the Istanbul Convention.  Moldova Action Plan 2017-2020 Sida notes that according to the CoE, two years after the adoption of the Action Plan as a whole, some progress can be reported on the overall implementation of the Action Plan. Among others there has mainly been progress in strengthening institutional and operational frameworks and building national capacities to implement reforms with especially good results within the institutional consolidation of human rights bodies. According to the CoE there is however a lack of a strategic approach to key areas such as the fight against corruption and justice system, which undermines democratic reform. Significant backsliding is found on core values relating to democratic standards, causing serious concerns regarding the degree of commitment by the national authorities to the democratic reform agenda. On a positive note, the Moldovan authorities closely collaborate with the CoE in the Action Plan implementation which has the focus of assisting national authorities in effectively implementing existing legal and institutional frameworks. Very good progress was however made within areas such as the consolidation to the Ombudsman and steps are taken for the reform of the public prosecution service. --

The intervention's intended outcome is to strengthen democracy, rule of law and human rights in the five cooperation countries by supporting the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Action Plans.