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The European Disability Expertise (EDE) started in July 2020 as the successor to the Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED, December 2007 - May 2019). It’s now in its second contract period (December 2021 – June 2023).

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The European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination was established in 2014 to succeed the former European network of legal experts in the non-discrimination field and the European network of legal experts in the field of gender equality. The contract with the European Commission for this joint network was renewed in 2023 to cover another four year period. The purpose of the network is to support the Commission to protect equal treatment and combat discrimination by providing independent, reliable and expert information and advice on relevant developments at EU level and in the countries covered by the network.

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The Academic Network of European Disability experts (ANED) was created by the European Commission in December 2007. ANED established and maintains a pan-European academic network in the disability field to support policy development in collaboration with the European Commission’s Disability Unit. Its philosophy and aims support the objectives of European disability policy towards the goal of full participation and equal opportunities for all people with disabilities.

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FRANET is the multidisciplinary research network of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. It is composed of teams of legal and social experts in each EU Member State and one team of experts for research and analysis at the EU and international level. These teams of experts conduct research upon request and provide relevant data to FRA on fundamental rights issues to enable and facilitate the Agency’s comparative analyses. See also https://fra.europa.eu/en/cooperation/franet


Since 2014 Human European Consultancy manages the country team for Romania and the EU and international comparative analysis team, the latter with four international partners: KU Leuven, Migration Policy Group, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights and Intervict – Tilburg University.

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The purpose of the project is to provide the European Commission with analysis and relevant information on the national legal framework, policies and activities in the field of equality data collection in the EU Member States and to provide the European Commission and other stakeholders with recommendations to improve equality data collection efforts. The project covers the grounds of age, ethnic or racial origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion or belief and multiple grounds. In the framework of the project we have produced a country overview of existing legal frameworks and practices for each of the EU Member States and two specific reports focusing on data collection on ethnicity and LGBTI at EU level, as well as an update the 2007 “European Handbook on Equality Data” and a comparative report of equality data collection in the EU Member States.

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About our projects

Multi-annual & multi-country EU-wide networks

A major strand of our work in the field of non-discrimination and equality is the multi-annual and multi-country EU-wide networks, established and coordinated by Human European Consultancy for the European Commission. These are the Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED), managed with the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds, and the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination law, managed with the Migration Policy Group and the University of Utrecht. Over the years, these networks have continually produced ground-breaking national, comparative, synthesis and thematic reports.

Research

Our research is geared to providing policy-relevant and evidence-based information and analysis that supports respect for and protection of internationally recognised human rights. For example, for the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) we have conducted research on access to justice in discrimination cases in the EU and undertaken a study of data collection on the social situation of people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems. Through FRA’s research network, FRALEX, we provided reports at the international and EU level and for more than 20 EU Member States on a wide range of topics, such as child trafficking, homophobia, data protection and national human rights institutions. Within the framework of the FRALEX successor, FRANET, we have produced reports on the principle of non-refoulement (prohibition on returning refugees to persecution) and on the social inclusion of migrants. For the European Commission we have analysed and assessed the establishment of equality bodies in the EU Member States and EFTA countries. We have also carried out a mapping project on the legal and policy framework for anti-discrimination in Turkey and the Western Balkans. In addition, we have conducted extensive research on the feasibility of harmonisation within the EU of legislation combating violence against women and children and violence based on sexual orientation.

Training and awareness-raising

Our evidence-based analysis and advice, together with target-group-specific approaches, are the key elements of our training and awareness-raising projects. For the European Commission we have organised good practice exchange seminars on all discrimination grounds for representatives of the governments of the EU Member States. We have also run anti-discrimination and diversity training for NGOs and trade unions. These were later followed by awareness-raising seminars in the area of non-discrimination and equality, targeted at civil society organisations in general.

Impact assessment and indicator development

Donors require evaluations to assess the impact of the projects they fund. Evaluations we have undertaken include projects funded within the framework of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, a global review of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights technical cooperation programme and various evaluations for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. In addition to the evaluations themselves, we contribute to the development of methodology for evaluations, such as developing indicator approaches and frameworks. Examples include outcome indicators for human rights interventions for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Dutch organisation Cordaid. More recently we supported FRA in developing statistical outcome indicators for Article 19 CRPD (on independent living).

Our office

Wilhelminapark 61
3581 NP Utrecht 
The Netherlands
office@humanconsultancy.com
T: +31 (0)30 232 64 30

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