Brussels 24/10/2019
Victim Support Europe (VSE) has received participatory status with the Council of Europe. The decision has been recently officially announced by the Council of Europe, and is another important recognition of VSE and our activities.
The Council of Europe has had working relations with non-governmental organisations since 1952 when it introduced a consultative status for INGOs. In 2003, in recognition of the increasingly active role played by the INGOS, the Council of Europe decided to change the consultative status to one of participatory status.
In his 2015 report on the “ State of Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Europe ” the Secretary General recommended to revise, in consultation with the Conference of INGOs, the guidelines on participatory status. The main objective of the revision of the resolution was to better define the criteria for granting or refusing participatory status and to increase the relevance and quality of INGOs enjoying participatory status.
In July 2016, the Committee of Ministers adopted a new resolution on participatory status, Resolution (2016)3. It sets out the rules for the granting of participatory status to INGOs, gives more information on the background of the status, what it represents, the conditions to be met by INGOs and the possibilities it gives to INGOs to co-operate with the Council of Europe. If your INGO would like to apply for participatory status please read closely Resolution (2016)3 and refer to the section below “How to apply”.
The INGOs enjoying participatory status form the Conference of INGOs. The Conference represents civil society at the Council of Europe and works to promote participatory democracy. In addition to holding two annual sessions a year, it organises events linked to the priorities of the Council of Europe.
