6th WJC National Community Directors' Forum, Bucharest

The World Jewish Congress held the first-ever International Meeting of Special Envoys and Coordinators Combating Antisemitism (SECCA) in the Romanian capital of Bucharest 17-18 June, bringing 32 diverse officials tasked specifically with working toward the protection of Jewish communities to deliberate best practices with more than 50 of the top professionals in the Jewish world. The unprecedented meeting, organized under the patronage and with the participation of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in cooperation with the WJC. It was held to coincide with the WJC’s 6th National Community Directors forum, an annual gathering of more than 50 of the top representatives of WJC’s affiliated communities aimed at discussing the key issues facing Jewish communities today.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union issued an official declaration on Tuesday affirming its commitment to contributing and supporting international initiatives directed at tackling the challenges facing Jewish communities. 

The EU presidency’s declaration affirmed that “the conclusion of the meeting indicates that significant challenges remain to be tackled, and extra measures should be envisaged,” in certain areas, with four identified in particular: 1) Improving dialogue and cooperation to ensure the security of Jewish communities; 2) promoting the endorsement of the non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance; 3) financing Holocaust research, education, and remembrance; and 4) improving the recording and collecting of hate crime data, including specialized training programs for law enforcement and criminal justice authorities and providing support to organizations actively involved with collection of data regarding hate crimes.