RED network members

Greece (coordinator)	Institute for Rights Equality & Diversity (i-RED)
Austria	Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights
Bulgaria	Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD)
Cyprus	Symfiliosi
Denmark	Documentation and Advisory Centre on Racial Discrimination (DACoRD)
Finland	Finnish League for Human Rights
France	Centre d'Etudes des Discriminations, du Racisme et de l'Antisémitisme (CEDRA)
Germany	European Forum for Migration Studies (EFMS) - Institute at the University of Bamberg
Hungary	Institute for Legal Studies
Ireland	Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI)
Italy	Initiatives and Study on Multiethnicity Foundation (ISMU Foundation)
Portugal	Númena - Research center on human and social sciences
Romania	Centre for Legal Resources (CLR)
Spain	Movimiento por la Paz, el Desarme y la Libertad- MPDL
Slovenia	Mirovni inštitut – Inštitut za sodobne družbene in politične študije (Peace Institute – Institute for Contemporary Social and Political Studies)
Sweden	Centre Against Racism (Centrum mot racism, CMR)

i-RED, Institute for Rights Equality & Diversity, is a research institute established in 2008 with the aim to become and consolidate as the first and only completely independent research centre in Greece with a clear European and international orientation approaching issues under a holistic, global and EU dimension, and building on EU and international networks aiming to maximize the impact of socio-legal research on public attitudes and policy-making. While being a young institution, i-RED gathers among the most highly acclaimed and productive scholars and researchers inGreece and Europe on racism, discrimination, intolerance migrants and social minorities’ issues. i-RED experts provide also proof of expertise in successful coordination and management, financial-administrative and implementation, of high budget EU projects and research transnational networks.
i-RED has a strong research record despite its young age and experience and expertise through its research and administrative staff . It aims to consolidate as a centre of excellence on racism, discrimination, intolerance, migration and integration issues. i-RED has financially managed the socio-legal research activity of HLHR-KEMO, in implementing the Greek National Focal Point of RAXEN, a network run by the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency. The i-RED staff has high level of competence, project management and leadership experience. Moreover, i-RED gathers a multi- and interdisciplinary team of members and cooperating experts who are acclaimed scholars in social sciences (sociology, economy, law, anthropology, social psychology, pedagogy) and political activists on anti-discrimination, migration, social equality and political participation.
Additionally, i-RED has built a selected team of junior and young socio-economic and legal experts, in order to encourage and to lead the creation of a research culture, the development of skills of young and promising researchers engaging them to EU and transnational projects and public intervention.
Within less than two years from its establishment until today, i-RED has been extremely productive implementing numerous important and groundbreaking research work and issuing socio-legal reports on fundamental rights and citiznehsip, some of which are done for the first time in Greece (e.g. Homophobia in Greece, Racism in Sport in Greece, the Asylum system through the eyes of AsylumSeekers) or represent the first systematic approach on highly debated issues such as Roma Housing: Vicious Circles & Consolidated Myths. Moreover, its Director has been a key figure in reporting the Fundamental Rights Platform recommendations to the FRA Management Board in 2008, and elected member of the Advisory Panel of the FRPlatform. i-RED is headed by Miltos Pavlou, socioeconomic & legal researcher and political analyst. He is a sociologist with legal and interdisciplinary scientific formation. The i-RED Director is assisted by a the Public Communication, Administration Units and the Pool of experts headed by the Senior legal expert in coordinating and promoting i-RED research work and public intervention. i-RED has a strong research record and experience. It is a centre of excellence on racism, discrimination, intolerance, migration and integration issues.

The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (BIM), founded in 1992, is an independent human rights research institution under the umbrella of the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, a leading Austrian research association. The institute is co-directed by Manfred Nowak, Hannes Tretter (scientific directors) and Fiona Steinert (managing director). Manfred Nowak is professor at the Department of European, International and Comparative Law of the University of Vienna and U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, Hannes Tretter is professor at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Vienna and Vice-chair of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
The primary focus of the BIM is on research activities in the field of human rights, on the national, European and the international level. It is the BIM’s main objective to offer a link between academic research and legal practise. Therefore, a considerable amount of work is devoted to empirical research and project implementation. Through co-operation with international, European and national institutions – like UN, OSCE, CoE, EU, ICTY, Austrian and foreign ministries – as well as other human rights research institutes and NGOs, the BIM strives to provide relevant studies, analysis and data on human rights issues in areas such as international, European and national law, politics, education and the media.
The BIM also coordinates the activities of the Interdisciplinary Research Platform "Human Rights in the European Context" at the University of Vienna. The platform assembles representatives of 12 departments of the University of Vienna with the purpose of strengthening the inter-disciplinary research on the topic of Human Rights in Europe. In addition, the Association for the Promotion of Research of the Institute (“BIM-Forschungsverein”) was established to enable the Institute to pursue additional human rights projects (in particular, empirical and training projects). Besides that, the BIM serves as the Racism and Xenophobia Network (RAXEN) National Focal Point for Austria of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.
The BIM is a member in various national and international networks, like e.g. the Litigation Association of NGOs against Discrimination, the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), the COST-Action “The Role of the EU in the UN Human Rights Reform”, the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization (EIUC), and the Anna-Lindh-Foundation, as well as in various child rights networks (Austrian National Coalition, ECPAT Austria, HIV/AIDS and children, CRIN, etc). BIM staff is also engaged extensively in human rights teaching and training and is involved in various university courses and post-graduate programmes at several European universities.

Symfiliosi cooperates with a pool of researchers whom it contracts from time to time in order to carry out specific tasks in its various projects. Its work is mainly research based, although it has in the past carried out training courses and organised conferences and seminars. Its areas of focus include anti-discrimination, anti-racism, trafficking, gender based violence, migration, integration, asylum and free movement of workers across Europe. Symfiliosi is the main partner of the consortium that forms the national focal point of the RAXEN network for the period 2007-2010 and the Cypriot team of legal experts under the FRALEX program. The experts of Symfiliosi were also experts of the Cyprus NFP for the period 2004-2007 and authors of all RAXEN deliverables. We are in close contact with all other NFPs, the vast majority of which have also belonged to this network for several years. The experts of Symfiliosi are also the national experts for Cyprus of the European Network of Legal Experts in the Anti-discrimination Field, managed by Human European Consultancy in partnership with the Migration Policy Group, and authors of the Cyprus country reports since 2003. The experts of Symfiliosi are the national experts for Cyprus in various European Networks such as the European Network for the Free Movement of Workers in Europe as well as in various other EC funded projects on gender violence (DAPHNE), equality bodies, integration of female migrants etc
The Centre d’Etudes des Discriminations, du Racisme et de l’Antisémitisme (CEDRA) is a research centre (non profit organisation) composed of several institutions that are competent in the fields of human rights issues and the struggle against racism, xenophobia and related intolerance (such as the French National Advisory Commission on Human Rights and five academic and research institutes).

CEDRA is the French focal point for the EU-RAXEN network since 2005. It has also experience as a FRALEX contact point in the framework of the FRA activities. It provides scientific expertise, by collecting and analysing data on racism, xenophobia and related intolerance or other human rights violations in France, as well as by conducting studies and researches on these matters. As a FRA national focal point, CEDRA collaborates on a daily basis with the French National Advisory Commission of Human Rights (CNCDH) and is in permanent contact with civil society actors and research institutions. In this context, CEDRA has recently become a member of the FRA Fundamental Rights Platform.

The european forum for migration studies (efms) is a research institute, founded in 1993; its research work focuses on a broad variety of issues related to immigration, integration and discrimination due to ethnic origin and religion. Since its very beginning, the efms has aimed to contribute to an informed and objective discourse on migration, integration and exclusion and racism in Germany and Europe with a broad array of activities such as primary and secondary research (both qualitative and quantitative), documentation, publication as well as systematic evaluation of integration measures, policy-oriented consultative services, organisation of expert workshops and conferences and providing information to the public. Furthermore, interdisciplinary and international cooperation has been established aiming at the exchange of information between researchers, politicians, administrators, educators, NGOs, the general public and those working in the media. The efms is an independent research institute affiliated with Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg, Germany. The director of the efms is Friedrich Heckmann, Professor of Sociology, and the managing director is Wolfgang Bosswick.

The “Movimiento por la Paz, el Desarme y la Libertad”- MPDL, is an organisation that is managed by a board of directors that is presided by the president of the MPDL, Mrs Francisca Sauquillo. The president, the Secretary General and the rest of the members are elected in the member’s General Assembly, which is the main governing body of the organisation. MPDL is structured in four departments: Social Action, International Action, Economic and Financial Affairs and Communication. A Coordinator leads each department. Each Department is divided in to areas (geographically for International Action, functionally for Social Action. Nationally, the organisation is divided in to Autonomous Communities and Province offices. MPDL has 22 offices open in the Spanish territory. Movimiento por la Paz, el Desarme y la Libertad, Spain (MPDL) is a non-profit organisation that was created in 1983. Our social aims are dissemination, apology and advocacy of the principles of Peace, Disarmament, Liberty, Solidarity and the living together of individuals and peoples (Article 3 of the Statutes). MPDL, through its actions, aims to eradicate in Spanish society and internationally Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance, violent nationalism and sectarian fundamentalism and achieve the maximum concession for the respect of Human Rights and the principle of non-discrimination for reasons of race, gender, religion or any other difference that might be subject to discrimination. MPDL is present in 32 countries and develops programmes of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid.

The Centre for Legal Resources is a non-governmental, non-profit organization, established in 1998 by the Open Society Foundation (nowadays Soros Foundation), which actively advocates for the establishment and operation of a legal and institutional framework which safeguards the respect for human rights and equal opportunities, free access to a fair justice and which contributes to the capitalization of its legal expertise for the general public interest. CLR has a Steering board: Valerian Stan - legal professional; Eva Forika - lawyer; Ivan Fiser - human rights activist, Radu Motoc - sociologist, Eugenia Crangariu - legal professional. Executive director: Georgiana Iorgulescu – lawyer. CLR has two strategic areas: promotion of rule of law and respect of human rights including five programmes supported by a training department. The programmes are: Anti-discrimination, Advocate for Dignity (defending the rights of persons with mental disabilities especially from protected institutions), Public Integrity, Justice Reform and Strategic Litigation. All programmes include monitoring and research activities, training activities, advocacy and lobbying, NGO and/or institutional capacity building, strategic litigation, etc… which have been implemented through various projects. CLR also collaborates with a large number of experts and partners for the fulfilment of its objectives. Through its advocacy and lobbying activities but also through its public declarations and press releases sanctioning human rights violations and infringements of the law or of the principles of democracy in Romania, CLR is a well established and respected actor in its field in Romania.

EWORX S.A. is a privately held company that was established in Athens in 2001. The company is governed by the Board of Directors and daily operations are overseen by the Managing Director. Eworx offers ICT consulting, digital communication and software development services, leveraging on the convergence of electronic media and answering to the growing need for innovation to organisational and corporate challenges in the digital economy. The company employs highly trained and skilled professionals who blend experience with multi-disciplinary expertise in consulting, technology, project management, marketing, branding, content and design. Eworx is amongst the early adopters of an agile development methodology closely involving its clients in the service development life-cycle and allowing for early testing and user feedback. It is also an avid design-for-all advocate promoting equal access to information and electronic services to all citizens.

Founded on January 2001, Númena is a non-profit making scientific association devoted to research and development in the area of social sciences and humanities. Composed mainly of social science researchers, editors and other collaborators, Númena usual activities are the development and application of scientific research methodologies, the study of Portuguese society, the collaboration with organisations at national and European level in the application of social and human sciences theories and methods, the formation of partnerships in order to exchange knowledge and jointly carry out research work and the promotion of the publication and dissemination of the results of its research. Migration, social discrimination (on grounds of disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, religion and beliefs), social integration processes and public policies for equality are some of the main subjects developed in research, public awareness and action-research projects funded both at national and European level.
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is an independent, non-partisan public policy think tank. The IPA was established in 1995 to support modernisation reforms and to provide a forum for informed debate on social and political issues. It conducts research as well as societal analysis and presents policy recommendations. The Institute of Public Affairs has prepared reform proposals for the key areas in society and politics. The Institute has a network of associates, which consists of scholars from different academic institutions as well as numerous social and political actors. The IPA publishes the results of its activities in the form of books and policy papers. It also organises seminars, conferences and lectures. Its publications are distributed to members of parliament, government officials, the media and non-governmental organisations.

The Finnish League for Human Rights (FLHR) is a religiously and politically non-aligned general human rights organisation. FLHR was founded in 1979 and pursues the work of the League for Human Rights, established in 1935. FLHR’s principal objective is to monitor and improve the human rights situation in Finland. Its work aims to make human rights known and to prevent and oppose human rights violations in Finland and abroad. The ideological base of FLHR’s activities is founded in UN human rights covenants and the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. FLHR receives support from the Finnish government, which covers a part of its expenses. Its activities are also funded by grants from foundations and organisations such as the European Union and the Finnish Slot Machine Association. Membership fees and donations also compose a significant proportion of FLHR’s funding. FLHR has approximately 600 members.
The predecessor of the Institute for Legal Studies was founded in 1941 by an Order of the Prime Minister; since 1955 it has belonged to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The Institute's research activity covers a wide range of legal topics i.e. administrative law, civil law, comparative law, constitutional law, European law, international public and private law, legal philosophy, criminal law, etc. The current research work of the Institute is based on a three-year research programme approved by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The main concern of the Institute is to promote legal sciences in Hungary; in addition it assists in various form the legislation, legal practice and legal education. The Institute takes part in the work of the RAXEN NFP since 2004, since 2007 the Institute provides project management in the NFP.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) is an independent human rights organisation that advocates for the rights of migrants and their families and acts as a catalyst for public debate and policy change. The ICI is also an Independent Law Centre. The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) was established by Sr Stanislaus Kennedy in 2001. ICI is an organisation where migrants and Irish work together to provide information, support and legal advice to immigrants and their families. Two important principles underpin the work of ICI: that immigration is a permanent and positive reality in Ireland and that individuals' human rights must be respected, protected and upheld. ICI believes immigration is a permanent and positive reality in Ireland, will continue to lobby for integrated, transparent, rights-based immigration and integration legislation and policies which reflect this reality.

The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) was founded in April 1990 as a non-partisan, independent organisation fostering the reform process in Bulgaria through impact on policy and civil society. CSD is an interdisciplinary public policy institute dedicated to the values of democracy and market economy. CSD’s mission statement is Building Bridges between Scholars and Policy Makers. CSD focuses on economic, institutional and legal reform, as well as European integration by providing decision-makers with independent expertise. In the field of institution building, CSD carries out research and feasibility studies, and provides comparative legal information and expertise from other countries in an attempt to promote the ability of the Bulgarian legal community to raise the level of legislation and its implementation in accordance with the European standards. CSD develops studies in key areas of EU accession and has established a considerable record in facilitating exchanges among policy makers and experts from the EU member states and Bulgaria.

Documentation and Advisory Center on Racial Discrimination (DACoRD) is a non profit organisation providing free legal aid for victims of racial discrimination (including racist crimes). DACoRD has assisted in cases on national and international level. Furthermore, DACoRD is documenting racial discrimination in all parts of public life, labour market, housing, education etc. as part of being the National focal Point In Denmark on behalf of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna.
Initiatives and Study on Multiethnicity Foundation (ISMU Foundation) is an autonomous and independent organization promoting studies, research, projects and initiatives concerning multiethnic and multicultural society, focusing in particular on the phenomenon of international migration flows. The studies, the research activity, the projects and the inquiries carried out focus on the different sides of the migratory phenomenon, such as those related to social and demographic aspects, education, labour market, law, health, housing, culture and religion. Among the numerous inquiries carried out every year, ISMU regularly edits and publishes an annual national Report on Migrations, now in its 15th year, which is spread and circulated in the most important scientific and institutional circles worldwide. In addition to several important studies and inquiries carried out on a national scale, the attention of the Foundation centres in particular on the phenomenon of migrations in Lombardy. In this connection, it is important to note that ISMU is the only accredited organization entitled by Lombardy Region to monitor the migratory phenomenon.

The Centre Against Racism (Centrum mot racism, CMR) is an NGO that was created as an umbrella organisation in 2003. It consists of nearly 90 national and local member associations representing a wide spectrum of civil society. The Board of Centre Against Racism consist of a chair, 8 members and 3 alternate members, together representing 12 different NGOs. The director supervises the work of the secretariat. Centre Against Racism work mainly with two core issues: to monitor and to affect the development of discrimination and racism. It means that we map, formularize problems and action plans against discrimination and racism and survey authorities, organizations, institutions and political parties. In addition we spread knowledge and information and strive to change racist attitudes and behaviour.