Armenian delegation participates in international conference heralding launch of the "End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse" project

From 16 to 17 May, an international conference heralding the launch of the "End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse" project of the Council of Europe took place in Strasbourg. The Armenian delegation, which comprised Head of the Division for Drafting Anti-Corruption and Penitentiary Policies of the Ministry of Justice Arpine Sargsyan (head of delegation), employee of the Ministry Misha Khudaverdyan, Deputy Director of the "Legal Education and Rehabilitation Programmes Implementation Centre" SNCO of the Ministry Gayane Hovakimyan, Head of the First Division of the 3^rd Department of the General Department for Combating Organised Crime of the Police of the Republic of Armenia, Lieutenant Colonel of the Police Vahagn Harutyunyan and Head of the Research and Educational Centre of the Office of the Human Rights Defender Nina Pirumyan, also participated in the conference.

Within the framework of the conference, the beneficiary countries presented their priorities in the field in question and the actions deriving from the Project and subject to implementation.

During the meeting, the main issues of combating online child sexual exploitation and abuse, including the role and significance of inter-agency co-operation and
co-operation with civil society in combating online child sexual exploitation and abuse, the existing mechanisms for protection of victims at the national and international levels, their identification, the main issues of detecting cases of online child sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as the role and significance of public awareness programmes in the fields in question, were touched upon.

At the end of the conference, the future actions related to project implementation and the actions of the beneficiary countries related to those actions were discussed.

Let us remind that the first meeting of the Council of National Coordinators of the Council of Europe project "End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse" took place on 4 May 2019, and, based on the results, the Republic of Armenia was selected and included in the list of the three pilot countries for the project. As a pilot country, Armenia, inter alia, will receive technical assistance to bring the national legislation into compliance with international standards and to review and strengthen the capacities of law-enforcement bodies, including in terms of improving training programmes under implementation (click http://moj.am/article/2259?fbclid=IwAR14vmAfGFd3i9euz3M2pBXt9cizp3RThaGx23oSAGJTrrnphwEKXNL8BLw for more details).