El Defensor del Pueblo, Ángel Gabilondo, ha asegurado este jueves en el Paraninfo de la Universidad de Burgos que “donde haya un problema social, ambiental, político, económico, ha de estar la investigación y la universidad ha de estar el conocimiento”. Así lo ha expresado en la conferencia inaugural que ha impartido durante el “Encuentro por la Convivencia Universitaria”, organizado por la Conferencia de Rectores de Universidad Españolas (CRUE) y la Red de Defensorías de las Universidades de Castilla y León, con motivo del Día internacional de la Convivencia en Paz.

Según ha explicado Ángel Gabilondo, es necesario vincular el conocimiento con la iniciativa social e institucional “para realizar una tarea común y colectiva” y ha reivindicado el papel “imprescindible” de las universidades para abordar los desafíos del presente. Entre otros retos, el Defensor del Pueblo ha destacado la necesidad de combatir la desigualdad y la pobreza ya que, ha apuntado Gabilondo, la desigualdad es “el rostro desdibujado y no pocas veces acallado de la violencia”, y la pobreza es “el mayor enemigo de la convivencia entrañable y de la verdadera paz, la mayor injusticia y la mayor soledad”.

Ante un público formado por estudiantes, profesorado y miembros de la sociedad civil, el Defensor del Pueblo se ha mostrado convencido de que la educación, la promoción del estudio, de la formación, de la ciencia, de las artes y de la cultura “son el motor del desarrollo y del conocimiento, la mejor política socioeconómica”. Por ello, ha instado a que las universidades sitúen “el conocimiento, la innovación y la transferencia en el centro de las políticas sociales y trabajen conjuntamente para propiciar la transformación de los entornos, del país, dando respuesta a las necesidades y demandas sociales”.

El rector de la Universidad anfitriona y presidente de CRUE-Sostenibilidad, Manuel Pérez Mateos, ha conducido el acto en el que también se ha leído el Manifiesto por la Convivencia en Paz, a cargo del rector de la Universidad Europea Miguel de Cervantes, David García López.

Speech given at the Opening Plenary Session of IDAHOT+ Forum 2024 at The Hague

Minister, Excellencies,
Friends,

It is a great pleasure to be with you.

I'm a 65-year-old gay Irish man, and this means I have lived through significant times of social development. For the first 20 years of my life, I had no idea of my sexual orientation because there were no cultural references whatsoever from which I could draw. For the next ten years, I lived fearfully in the closet. For my first 35 years, I lived under the cloud of criminal law. And it is just six years ago in Ireland that I was able to marry my partner of 27 years.

My story is that of many people, but it is also a story of personal and social realisation and development. It is reflective of the astonishing changes we have seen in so many of our societies and countries. However, there is no room today for complacency given the vast gaps, dreadful abuses, and patterns of backsliding well known to so many in this room.

The challenges are very well brought to our attention today in two important resources that are before us. The first of these is the 3rd EU LGBTIQ survey presented by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights published yesterday. Even though I no longer work for the Fundamental Rights Agency, I feel a little possessive of this survey since the data was gathered and analysed while I was still its Director. The second is the annual Rainbow Map presented by ILGA Europe.

These two resources describe patterns of discrimination, harassment, hate and violence so widespread that they might be described as banal. They describe the higher degree of intimidation, harassment and violence experienced by members of the trans and intersex communities. They tell us of the pernicious role played by intersectional discrimination. I think of the situation of Roma, migrants, persons with disabilities, and many others. They also point to the horrific instrumentalisation of people, especially trans and intersex people, that sometimes even leads to the loss of life.

For reasons such as the ones I have just described, this IDAHOT Forum 2024 is not a moment for business as usual. It is a moment to wake up.

We need governments to wake up to the seriousness of the issues and the challenge that faces them. In this context, I express appreciation to the Netherlands for your leadership and for convening us here today. I also deeply appreciate those states that have drafted today's political Declaration, and I am encouraged that five more states have committed to the Declaration.

We also need regional organisations to wake up. Here I express appreciation to the European Union for its groundbreaking LGBTIQ strategy and my personal appreciation to Commissioner Dalli for her brave leadership on this issue. We must urge that the EU adopt a new strategy to replace the current one.

I also express appreciation to my own organisation, the Council of Europe, for establishing the Committee of Experts on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics (ADI-SOGIESC). This is a very important initiative, and I particularly appreciate the commitment to adopt a Council of Europe Strategy for the Equality of Rights of LGBTI Persons.

Friends, in addition, we need our societies to wake up to the reality of what is happening within them. We need to engage and trigger the capacity for good in our societies. We can trigger such vast social movements. We have done it before. As an Irish national, I saw how, during the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015, a whole country woke up to the issue.

I too need to wake up in my role as Commissioner for Human Rights.

In that context, I make you three pledges.

First, I will continue the high priority paid to these issues by my predecessors. There will be no let-up in the attention of the Office of the Commissioner to the issues and the challenges faced by LGBTI people.

Second, in continuing the work of my predecessors, I will not work for the LGBTI communities. Instead, I will work with them. This includes a strong commitment on my part to stand up for LGBTIQ civil society.

Third, I will not hesitate to call out abuses where I see them. This I have already done in the context of the foreign funding legislative developments we are seeing in a number of places in Europe at the present time.

Let me conclude with some words of hope. I would like to borrow the words of Louis-Georges Tin, the founder of IDAHOT. About twelve years ago, I was on a panel with him to mark IDAHOT at the United Nations in New York. I do not remember what I said that day and I recall very little of what was said by others. But I remember everything that Louis-Georges Tin enunciated. He did not speak his words. He sang them. He sang Joan Baez's great song ‘We shall overcome’. Allow me to conclude with just one of the verses that Louis-Georges sang on that day.

“Oh, deep in my heart
I know that I do believe
We shall overcome, someday”.

Thank you.

• Download the speech CommHR(2024)23

The European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) Working Group on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will host a webinar for its members on Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the rights of persons with disabilities.

Scheduled for 22 May 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00 CET, the webinar will explore the critical intersection between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the rights of persons with disabilities.

The webinar aims to provide participants with an understanding of how advances in AI technology may impact the rights of persons with disabilities. Through expert insights and open discussion, participants will explore the potential challenges, risks and opportunities associated with implementing AI in the context of disability rights, as well as the potential role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in addressing the associated risks and challenges.

Agenda:

10:00 - 10:10: Introduction by Jerneja Turin, Chair of the ENNHRI Working Group on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

10:10 - 11:15: Expert speakers:

Nele Roekens, Chair of the ENNHRI Working Group on Artificial Intelligence, Legal Adviser and Project Leader on AI at UNIA, Independent Expert for the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on Artificial Intelligence, Equality and Discrimination.

Kave Noori, Artificial Intelligence Policy Officer at the European Disability Forum.

Yonah Welker, Public Technologist, Evaluator - European Commission projects, creator of the LinkedIn learning course "AI Ethics: Disability-Centred Frameworks", Yonah.org.

11:15 - 12:00: Open discussion

La acción formativa ha sido impulsada por la adjunta en funciones de la institución, Milagros Fuentes, para lograr “un diálogo efectivo” con todas las personas

La Diputación del Común de las Islas Canarias concluye con éxito la primera formación en Lengua de Signos Española (LSE) dirigida a su personal en todas las islas del archipiélago. Este innovador programa formativo, impartido por la Fundación Canaria para las Personas con Sordera y sus Familias, se realiza presencialmente para las personas trabajadoras de La Palma y en línea para las demás islas.

Esta iniciativa, pionera en el ámbito público de Canarias, ha sido diseñada con el objetivo de capacitar a las personas trabajadoras de la Diputación del Común en el uso básico de la LSE, permitiéndoles así, brindar una atención más efectiva y accesible a las personas usuarias de esta lengua que se acerquen a la institución.

La formación, que se desarrolló del 15 al 26 de abril y del 8 al 10 de mayo, se llevó a cabo en las instalaciones de la Diputación del Común en Santa Cruz de La Palma, con una duración de 20 horas distribuidas en sesiones matutinas de 1,5 horas de duración.

Un total de 14 personas participaron activamente en este programa, adquiriendo conocimientos fundamentales en LSE y en vocabulario específico relacionado con sus respectivos puestos de trabajo. Además, la modalidad mixta de la formación, presencial y en línea, permitió una mayor accesibilidad para el personal de todas las islas, asegurando así una participación inclusiva y equitativa.

La Diputación del Común reafirma su compromiso con la inclusión y la accesibilidad, destacando la importancia de esta formación como un paso crucial hacia la mejora de la atención y el servicio público ofrecido a todas las personas, independientemente de sus necesidades comunicativas.

La acción formativa ha sido impulsada por la adjunta en funciones a la Diputación del Común en funciones, Milagros Fuentes, quien recordó que “cuando asistí a un curso de la Universidad de Otoño-Invierno en La Palma sobre el lengua de signos, y al ser preguntada por qué quería realizar la acción formativa, manifesté mi deseo de tener mayor comunicación a la desarrollada a través de mi ejercicio profesional, con personas con discapacidad auditiva, el conocimiento de la vulnerabilidad existente en el campo de todas las administraciones públicas, y en especial la que con más crédito puedo dar del ámbito judicial, con los seres humanos con mayor categoría intelectual y humana que nosotros ‘los oyentes”.

“Por ello, decidí y propuse dejar una huella en la institución que he ejercido casi seis años mi trabajo de adjunta de la Diputación del Común, cuyo cometido ha sido siempre la defensa de los Derechos Humanos, tal y como manifesté en mi toma de posesión, con una formación de lengua de signos español para una eficacia mayor de la función encomendada que se lleva a cabo desde la Diputación del Común, gracias a todos y todas, los que son parte indispensable para ello, (ordenanzas, conductores, administrativos y administrativas, informático, personal de habilitación, asesores y asesoras, trabajadora social, secretario general, jefa de Administración, y personal de gabinete)”, señala.

During the bilateral meeting, Dr. Ákos Kozma informed Ms. Emily O’Reilly of the responsibilities and competences of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, his recent activities, with special regard to the circumstances of receiving the persons fleeing to Hungary from the war in Ukraine, as well as the measures taken to help them, furthermore, the activities and experience of the Ombudsman’s information points established on the border in order to provide then with direct legal and humanitarian support.

At the coordination meeting, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and the European Ombudsperson also exchanged their ideas on the development and strengthening of the bilateral relations between their institutions and the possibilities for their future cooperation.