On
January 18, the Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan participated in the 13th
session of the Republic of Armenia - European Union Dialogue on Human Rights.
The
delegation of RA was headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Armenia, Paruyr Hovhannisyan, and the EU delegation was headed by
Dorota Dlouchy-Suliga, Head of Division in the European External Action
Service.
Gender
equality, non-discrimination, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and
information, rights of national minorities, refugees, as well as strengthening
labor rights and a number of other issues were discussed.
Within
the framework of the session, the importance of adopting the 2023-2025 action
plan arising from the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights was
especially emphasized.
Cooperation
on issues related to human rights and fundamental freedoms on multilateral
platforms, in particular within the UN, OSCE and Council of Europe, was
discussed, affirming the commitment to strengthen cooperation.
The
delegation of RA presented to the EU partners the steps taken by Armenia and
the current works in relation to the above-mentioned issues. In this context,
Anahit Manasyan presented the steps taken towards the improvement of the
spheres, emphasizing also the actions that need to be taken in order to develop
and strengthen the rights protection system in specific spheres.
A
special reference was made to the large-scale military attack by Azerbaijan in
Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, the humanitarian consequences of the
subsequent forced displacement and the issues arising from the perspective of
human rights. The efforts to address the immediate needs of over 100.000
refugees and facilitate their socio-economic inclusion were touched upon, which
in mid-term perspective requires significant assistance.
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