The European Commission set up the EU Centre of expertise for victims of terrorism (EUCVT) in January 2020 to offer expertise, guidance and support to national authorities and victim support organisations. The EUCVT will help to ensure that national structures offer professional assistance and support to victims of terrorism in every EU country. It will promote exchange of best practices and sharing of expertise among practitioners and specialists across borders.
The Association française des Victimes du Terrorisme, the Fondation Lenval (Nice, France) and ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre (The Netherlands) are partners in the project, which is led by Victim Support Europe: the umbrella organisation for victim support organisations in Europe.
The EUCVT is working on the EU Handbook on victims of terrorism and on a General List of Experts in the Member States of the EU which contains experts that can support and assist victims of terrorism.
In case of a terrorist attack, experts on the list may be invited by Member States to provide their expertise. The experts may also be invited to participate in (online) meetings organised by the European Commission, Member States or NGOs in the field. Apart from that, experts on the list will be invited to participate in the EUCVT Online Forum. This forum will allow the exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas on the support of victims of terrorism among experts in different fields.
Isabel Fernandez has been invited to be part of the General List of Experts ad also to contribute in the EU Handbook on victims of terrorism. The Handbook was published in February 2021 and can be downloaded here.
For more information, please visit: https://ec.europa.eu
