Set up in 2011 by a group of NGOs led by CEJI – a Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe, Facing Facts is an innovative programme and network aiming to tackle the issue of hate crime and hate speech.

Moving forward, Facing Facts has evolved into a broad international network of civil society organisations and law enforcement agencies that generate holistic, multi-stakeholder approaches to hate crime monitoring, response and prevention.

Vision

Working across communities and institutions to transform understanding of and responses to hate crime and hate speech in Europe and beyond for the benefit of victims, communities and societies.

Mission

The Facing Facts Network works across communities and institutions to transform understandings of and responses to hate crime and hate speech in Europe and beyond for the benefit of victims, communities and EU societies.

Strategic objectives

  • To promote victim and outcome-focused practice that increases access to justice, support and safety through: improved reporting, recording, and data collection systems; better and more diverse victim services, and; effective, non-discriminatory investigation and prosecution responses;
  • To generate effective and innovative systems-thinking and collaborative responses to the problem of hate crime and hate speech;
  • To support transformative national change agents and anti-hate crime and hate speech communities of practice across Europe;
  • To develop and ensure access to cutting edge, innovative and collaborative learning and capacity building on hate crime and hate speech, particularly in the online space.

“There are also impressive civil society initiatives to support improved monitoring and investigation of hate speech, such as the ‘Facing Facts’ programme”, Michael O’Flaerty, FRA director at the European Conference on Antisemitism in Vienna in April 2023.

Due to increasing demand for capacity building programmes in this field by EU Member States, the Facing Facts training offer is also available online (www.facingfactsonline.eu) and is used by law enforcement and civil society representatives.

Facing Facts is co-funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (2021-2027) of the European Union.

Facing Facts Multimedia Conference. December 11 2018, BRUSSELS BELGIUM.

The main goal of F.A.D.E (Fight Against Antisemitism through training anD awareness raising activitiEs) project is to improve the ability of public authorities in identifying, prosecuting and condemning episodes of discrimination and antisemitic hatred in a timely and effective manner.

The FADE project also intends to:

  • Strengthen the support to victims through improving the public awareness of their rights and reporting mechanisms in order to increase the number of reports of antisemitic discrimination and hatred cases,
  • Improve the cooperation and information exchange between public authorities and other actors such as civil society organisations in order to achieve a more effective response in combating episodes of discrimination and antisemitic hate,
  • Strengthen the data recording and collection systems,
  • Develop a training activity for professionals that are in charge of registering and collecting such data.

This project is developed together with the National Office Against Racial Discrimination of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – UNAR, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities – UCEI, Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea – CDEC, and Reflect – Research Evaluation Training Technical Assistance S.R.L.

CEJI participates in this project as a leading actor in the development and delivery of online and offline capacity building on antisemitism for police officers, lawyers, prosecutors and judges in Italy.