Regular session of Steering Committee for "Support to Human Rights Protection in Armenia" Budget Support Programme held

On 19 September, the regular session of the Steering Committee for "Support to Human Rights Protection in Armenia" Budget Support Programme, signed between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union, was held. The discussion was attended by Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Davit Harutyunyan, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia Bradley Busetto, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Kocharyan, as well as representatives of other government agencies and civil society organisations.

Minister Davit Harutyunyan welcomed the convening of the regular session of the Steering Committee and touched upon the background and goals of the Agreement signed in 2015, as well as focal areas stipulated in the Agreement. The Minister stated that such meetings allow overseeing implementation of the Agreement, as well as discuss further steps.

During the meeting, the performance of the 2014-2016 Action Plan for the Protection of Human Rights, the mechanisms aimed at ensuring co-ordination, monitoring, transparency introduced within the scope of the new 2017-2019 Programme, as well as the mechanisms aimed at ensuring more extensive participation of CSO representatives were presented.

EU Ambassador to Armenia Piotr Switalski touched upon the activities carried out for ensuring general and special preconditions for the "Support to Human Rights Protection in Armenia" EU Budget Support Programme and attached importance to the active participation of civil society representatives for effective implementation of the 2017-2019 Action Plan.

The issue on planning the future activities of the Committee was discussed at the end of the session.