(Equinet) Equality Today | Issue 14 | Jul/Aug 2021

Date of article: 20/07/2021

Daily News of: 21/07/2021

Country: EUROPE

Author: European network of equality bodies - EQUINET

Article language: en

Equinet@Work

#ArtificialInteligence
Equality Bodies Tackling Discrimination in AI
Did you know that algorithmic decision-making has caused discrimination in education and financial services across Europe? For examples of how equality bodies tackle this kind of discrimination, check our new videos , including examples from France, Finland and Sweden!

Advancing equality in AI in the EU
Tena Šimonović Einwalter, Chair of the Executive Board & Ombudswoman of Croatia, spoke at the third edition of the European AI Forum. During her intervention, based on learnings from equality bodies, Tena spoke about ensuring equality and compliant design in the development and application of Artificial Intelligence in Europe.

Equality law in AI: The role of equality bodies
Miha Lobnik, member of the Executive Board and recently appointed for a second term as Advocate of the Principle of Slovenia, will participate in the upcoming Virtual Conference on the ethical and fundamental rights aspects of artificial intelligence (AI). This conference will take place on 20 July and is being organised by the Slovenian Ministry of Justice under the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Miha’s participation will highlight equality bodies’ unique position ensuring that the AI technology used to determine people’s acess and rights is compliant with equality law.

#HealthEquality
Equality in healthcare webinar materials available
What would an equality approach to healthcare look like? In June, Equinet’s webinar series brought together key healthcare actors and equality bodies to collaborate and overcome identified obstacles to securing equality competent healthcare service provision. Materials and resources from the series are available here.

#Communication
Call for trainer(s): Persuasive writing for equality bodies
Are you or do you know a communication wizard? Equinet is currently looking for an expert in persuasive writing related to equality to deliver a training to its members in late November. The training aims to help national equality bodies to use different persuasive writing techniques in a more comprehensive and strategic way, and to deal with online hate speech and trolls. Further information and application procedures available here.

Members@Work

#AnnualReport
Czech Republic: Equal Treatment
Read the Czech Public Defender of Rights’ Equal Treatment 2020 report, which maps their activities in the area of protection against discrimination, introduces anti-discrimination judicial decisions and informs about the latest trends in equal treatment.

Ireland: COVID-focused work
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has published its 2020 Annual Report to the Houses of the Oireachtas. The report highlights significant Covid-19 focused activity for the Commission, especially in the areas of gender, age, disability, and socio-economic status.

#LGBT+
Georgia: State of equality
The Public Defender’s Office in Georgia submitted to the Parliament of Georgia an annual report on the situation of human rights and freedoms in the country. The report reviews the challenges identified and progress made in 2020, including the lack of “significant steps... to improve the rights situation of LGBT+ individuals.” In light of the violent protests and hate crimes that took place in Tbilisi earlier this month, the Public Defender’s Office continues to monitor the investigations, analysing the actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and presenting the results of the assessment to the public.