Ombudsperson of Azerbaijan held an online meeting with officials of the Council of Europe

The Ombudsperson, Sabina Aliyeva held an online meeting with the officials
of the Anti-discrimination Department of the Council of Europe.

The purpose of the meeting was to assess the state of implementation of the EU/CoE Eastern Partnership Project on “Strengthening access to justice through non-judiciary redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in EP countries” at the national level with the purpose to increase the accessibility for vulnerable groups of population in accordance with the international standards

During the meeting, the Ombudsperson gave broad information about the activities on the Project implementation, including training and seminars for the staff of the Ombudsman Office targeted at legal awareness raising to raise the effectiveness of NHRI. It was noted that the combating discrimination is also considered within the mandate of the Ombudsperson according to the Constitutional Law on Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan

The Ombudsperson spoke about the recent online meetings held with the ethnic minorities, representatives of the local communities and civil society from rural places of the country in the period of COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted the measures taken in the country in this regard

Sabina Aliyeva also noted that exchanging experience contributes to revealing challenges and preventing further human rights violations. The CoE representatives highlighted the importance of effective cooperation between Ombudsman Institution and civil society organizations. The CoE representatives also suggested holding a round table with the relevant state bodies and civil society organizations in near future with participation of international experts as well.