On the morning of the 15 th July a volunteer of the special needs kindergarten “Ciauskutis” Michela Plavan together with the teacher Sandra Kalinauskiene organized a soap bubble party for children. Every kid likes to blow bubbles, watch them, blowing bubbles is also essential for respiratory training. This activity was not only great for celebrating…
On 16th July 2020, works on the draft bill on national minorities have been completed. Subsequently, the project has been submitted for revision to the Ministry of Culture. The working group under the Department of National Minorities tasked with developing a new draft law on national minorities has successfully completed its mandate. The group had…
On 23rd April 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that those who publicly declare that they would never employ persons of a specific sexual orientation violate the provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Directive (2000/78). This ruling regards case C-507/18 concerning an Italian lawyer who stated on a radio show that he…
Article 2.20 part 1 of the Civil Code of Lithuania establishes that every person has the right to a name. It includes the right to have a surname, first name(s), and a pseudonym. However, as has been already established several times before, the existing legal framework is not sufficient to meet the rights and needs…
In 2020 January 15th there was information published online that the Press, Radio and Television Sponsorship Foundation (hereafter – the Foundation) tendered allocation of 2020 state support for designing public information providers. As stated on the Foundation’s website, 439 applications were submitted for the competition. The amount requested for assistance from the Foundation was €…
In the early February of 2020, the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) drew attention to the funding of minority media. Earlier, it appeared that after distributing state support to public information projects, the only Polish-language newspaper in Lithuania – “Kurier Wileński” – did not receive funding this year. On its own initiative, EFHR appealed…
On 12th March 2020, representatives of the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) met with three researchers working on the situation of national minorities: Dr Timofey Agarin (Queen’s University, Belfast), director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict, Prof. Martin Klatt (University of Southern Denmark) and Patrick Utz (University of Edinburgh). They were…
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A total of ten hate-driven incidents appeared in a report compiled by the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The list comprises key information about those hate crimes that were committed in Lithuania in 2019 and were reported in the public media. Due to…
26th September 2019 European Solidarity Corps project “Let’s do it together” started in Vilnius Special Nursey-Kindergarten “Čiauskutis”. The first volunteer to start up is Michela from Italy, who will stay in Čiauškutis until July 2020. Michela will have the opportunity to provide support in kindergarten activities with following tasks: monitor various activities in groups, eventually…
In the last days of January, the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) visited the John Paul II Secondary School in Vilnius. Young people from five different classes participated in workshops with our intern, Marta Bednarczyk. The subject of the workshops were the rights of national minorities. Together with the trainer, participants discussed what social…
At the beginning of 2019, an Israeli citizen, whose ancestors are buried in Vilnius, filed a preventive claim to the Vilnius City District Court requesting for the reconstruction of the Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports building to be forbidden. By the end of last year, the court acknowledged more than one hundred people, who…
Julija Vaitiekūnaitė is a fourth year student of Vilnius University’s English and another foreign (French) language study programme. Born in a small town in the district of Jurbarkas, Julija was always interested in languages, art, literature. During her Erasmus visit in Paris, she found herself right in the middle of the Yellow vests movement, what…
The registration of Minority SafePack Initiative has been completed and the signatures forwarded to the European Commission. Minority SafePack was launched in early 2017 by the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN). The initiative calls upon the European Union to introduce legislation that would improve the protection and well-being of persons belonging to national and…
The Holiday Season is approaching – it is time to share wishes, spread positive energy and enjoy the feeling of warmth and togetherness with those who matter the most. As we easily get caught up in holiday preparations like decorating the house, shopping for gifts and cooking, not many remember that apart from observing…
Announcing Hate Crime Data of 2018, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) urges countries to implement hate crime legislation that has existed on their law books for many years. “Legislation that remains without any practical application is of no more value than the paper it’s printed on,” said ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún…
Article 2.20 part 1 of the Civil Code of Lithuania establishes that every person has the right to a name. Also, it includes the right to have a surname, first name (s) and a pseudonym. However, the existing legal framework is not sufficient to meet the rights and needs of the individuals. This conclusion was…
European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) has launched a new youth programme “Better Together: Increasing the Social Inclusion of Lithuanian Youth through Human Rights Education”. The project is funded by the Vilnius City Municipality and is implemented in cooperation with two partner organisations – International Youth Cooperation Agency (JTBA) and Youth For Understanding (YFU) Lithuania.…
On 10th November 2019, representatives of the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) met with students of the University of the Third Age. The meeting was carried out as a part of the activities of the House of Polish Culture in Vilnius. The meeting with seniors was visited by Evelina Dobrovolska – a distinguished lawyer…
On 30th October, Marta Bednarczyk, who joined European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) under the Erasmus + program, and Ágnes Kárpáti, Michela Plavan, who came to Lithuania to volunteer under the European Solidarity Corps program, visited the MO Museum‘s exhibition “The Origin of Species: 1990s DNA“. Girls joked that for some the exhibition was a…