On September 28th, an anti-discrimination training course for lawyers from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia began in Falenty near Warsaw. The training is the first stage of the program EU Non-Discrimination Law Training for Trainers from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and INTERIGHTS.

The classes provided for in this session include among others awareness raising workshops, overview of EU non-discrimination law, key concept of discrimination, the screening of films presenting discrimination. The organizers also provided for meetings with the representatives of Polish NGOs counteracting discrimination: the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the Friends of Integration Association, and the Campaign Against Homophobia.

The program’s objective is to develop the skills necessary to conduct training in the scope of anti-discrimination law and to present the anti-discrimination directives to legal professions and trade unions in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. The project provides for two training sessions (the second one is expected to take place in January 2006), following which the participants will be obliged to organize training courses for lawyers in their home countries.