The workshop had two basic goals: raising awareness and knowledge on the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and providing support to the NGOs advocating ratification of this convention.

The workshop was organised by the UN Women, UNDP Office in Skopje and National Council for Gender Equality of Macedonia, within the regional project “Coordinated Efforts – Toward new European standards in protection of women from gender-based violence”, endorsed by the European Union.

During the two-day work, the following countries have shared their experiences: Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Turkey.

Within the first panel, titled: “From signature to ratification – regional experiences in the process of ratifying the convention”, Chairperson of the Gender Equality Committee Ms Nada Drobnjak spoke on Montenegro’s experiences.

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) is the first legally binding international instrument in Europe in the field of violence against women and domestic violence and the farthest reaching international agreement addressing this form of human rights violation.