Current best practices

• Author: Sabatauskait?, Birut?
• Pages: 122-122

122

10 CURRENT BEST PRACTICES

The following measures could be identified as good practices in 2019:

• In the autumn of 2019, the Diversit y Development Group, an N GO, organised the

first conference of the Lithuanian Diversity Charter. As was noted in a previous

report, th e country’s businesses signed a ‘Diversity Charter’ in 2018, with a public

commitment to fostering a culture of equality.

• For the purpose of moni toring the CRPD, the Commission of People with Disabilities

was established alongside the Office of the Equal Opportuniti es Ombudsperson,

following amendments to the Law on Equal Treatment. Ho wever, no additional

funding was provided for the Commission’s wor k.

• The Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson continued to support a website on equality

plans for employers (http://www.lygybesplanai.lt/) and carried out a number of

activities to promote equal opportunities in the labour ma rket.

• Two strategic cases wer e brought to the ECtHR in 2019 in the field of non-

discrimination with the expectation of advancing equal opportunities, even thou gh

justice was not achieved at a national level: on e case was initiated by the neopagan

community Romuva regarding the Parliament’s refusal to recognise i t as a state

religion. Another case regarding discrimination and free sp eech concerned the fairy-

tale book ‘Amber Heart’, the distribution of which was terminated in 2014. It later

returned to the shelves with a note that its contents might be detrimental to

minors, because two of the fairy tales included narratives involvi ng same-sex

couples. The latter case exhausted all the natio nal remedies available, rea ching the

Supreme Court twice.

• The National Equality and Diversity Awards, an awareness-rai sing initiative

implemented jointly by the Equal Opportunities Om budsperson and a group of

NGOs working with vulnerable groups, which has been taking place annually since

2014, was continued. In March 2019, the winners from am ong various nominees

were presented with awards for their achievements in the field of prom oting

equality or protecting people from discrimination. The award ce remony was

broadcasted live on national television and received substantial media attention an d

social media coverage. A number of organisations, companies and institutions

participated in the selection of nominees, in voti ng and in organising and presenting

the awards. Organisers are planning to continue the initiative in future years, as the

awards function as a tool to rai se awareness and carry out promoti onal activities.

The awards were mainly financed by the Office of the Equal Opportunities

Ombudsperson.

• There has been significant progress in recent years, with m ore and more people

openly supporting the rights of LGBT people. In 2019, the fourth Baltic Pride event

was organised by the national LGB T organisation, LGKL. Since the first Pride event

took place in 2010 in the fa ce of huge opposition, subsequent events in 2013, 2016

and 2019 were held in the main avenue of the capital, the latest o ne being the

most successful, with around 10 000 participants. This has not yet resulted in

major legal changes, although court practice has been l eading towards more equal

treatment of LGBT persons.

• A Human Rights Forum was held on 10 December 2019, organised by Vytautas

Magnus University, a number of civil soci ety organisations (including the Coalition

of Human Rights Organisations and the Lithuanian Disability Forum) and state

institutions (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson

and the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office), and many different stakeholders were

invited. Many activities covered non-discrimination issu es.