Institutional experience... | Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis

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Institutional experience and working together

Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis led the Secretariats of the Monitoring Committee (2008-2009) and of the Committee of Political Affairs and Democracy (2010-present);

Meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, chaired by Ria Oomen-Ruijten, in Berlin (Germany), with the participation of the President of the Assembly Liliane Maury Pasquier, in November 2019

Meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, chaired by Bjorn von Sydow, in Belgrade (Serbia), in 2010

Meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, chaired by Bjorn von Sydow, in Caserta (Italy), with the participation of the President of the Assembly Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, in September 2011

Meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, chaired by Dora Bakoyannis, in Stokholm (Sweden), in March 2014

Political Affairs Committee meeting, chaired by Mogens Jensen, Reykjavik (Iceland), September 2016

Meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, chaired by Mogens Jensen, in Bornholm (Denmark), in June 2017

Meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, chaired by Mogens Jensen, in Paris (France), in November 2017

Remote meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, chaired by Dame Cheryl Gillan, in May 2020

Remote meeting of the Political Affairs Comittee, chaired by Andreas Nick, with the participation of MEP, Fabienne Keller, in December 2020

she put to the benefit of the Assembly her broad knowledge of the Organisation and in particular: initiated and promoted the co-operation between the Assembly and the Venice Commission; developed synergies with the Committee of Ministers, the Commissioner for Human Rights and other monitoring bodies, and drew examples from the Court’s case-law to substantiate the political positions of rapporteurs;

With former CoE Secretary General, Catherine Lalumière, and former President of the Court of Human Rights, Jean-Paul Costa, in May 2019

Speech at the Venice Commission, in December 2018

With Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers and Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Repulic, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, and former President of the Assembly, Liliane Maury Pasquier, on the occasion of the 22nd Symi symposium on the world post COVID-19, July 2020

Participation at the commemorative ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the European Convention of Human Rights, with the President of the Hellenic Republic, the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers and Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Chairperson of the Greek Delegation to PACE, the CoE Secretary General, the President of the European Court of Human Rights and the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, in the Greek Parliament, on 4 November 2020

she initiated the practice of complementing Assembly monitoring reports with recommendations to the Committee of Ministers proposing concrete assistance and co-operation activities for the countries concerned thus linking Assembly and intergovernmental action;

she provided advice and guidance to the President of the Assembly as secretary to the Ad hoc Committee of the Bureau on the Role and Mission of the Assembly which, in the first half of 2018, brought together Chairpersons of all national delegations, political groups and committees and helped him reach consensus on a report summarising proposals for future Assembly action;

she forged close working relationships of trust with MPs, including Assembly Presidents and committees’ Chairpersons, from different political cultures and traditions, thanks to her interpersonal skills and human approach;

With former Chairperson of the Political Affairs Committee Ria Oomen-Ruijten and former Presidents of the Assembly Stella Kyriakides, Michele Nicoletti and Anne Brasseur, in May 2018

With former PACE President Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg) in Athens, in May 2018

With Lord Georges Foulkes (UK), in Dubrovnik (Croatia), in November 2018

With Josette Durieu (France), at the French Senat, in Paris, in June 2017

With Former PACE President Michele Nicoletti (Italy), in Strasbourg, in October 2018

With former Chairperson of Political Affairs Committee Mogens Jensen (Denmark) at the Folkemødet (the People's Political Festival), on Bornholm Island (Denmark), in June 2017

With George Katrougalos (Greece) at the OECD headquarters, in Paris, in October 2019

With Maryvonne Blondin (France) in Rovaniemi (Finland), in December 2019

she demonstrated her strong resilience capacity and managerial skills in leading and motivating teams, both in the Assembly and in the intergovernmental sector, even in situations of acute pressure;

she developed human resources management experience through special training and as Human Resources Correspondent for the whole Directorate of Strategic Planning.

Endorsements