EU to continue to support the Government for effective implementation of the Strategy for Human Rights Protection — Co-ordinating Council for the 2023-2025 Action Plan arising from the National Strategy holds first meeting

On 20 February, the first meeting of the Co-ordinating Council for the 2023-2025 Action Plan arising from the National Strategy for Human Rights Protection was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan. Greeting the attendees, the Deputy Minister touched upon the activities for the development and adoption of the Action Plan arising from the National Strategy, emphasising that the Action Plan was developed within the scope of an inclusive process, with the wide participation of state bodies and civil society organisations and with the support of international partners. Karen Karapetyan also stressed the importance of active co-operation between the interested government agencies and organisations within the framework of the Co-ordinating Council and highlighted the involvement of non-governmental organisations in the Council. Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos highly appreciated Armenia's efforts aimed at protecting human rights and advancing democratic processes in the country, and stressed that the EU will continue to provide the necessary expert and technical assistance to the Government of the Republic of Armenia in order to ensure effective implementation of the Action Plan. The Ambassador also emphasised the importance of the Strategy for Human Rights Protection and the actions under the Strategy, especially from the perspective of ensuring the rights and social guarantees of persons displaced in 2023. Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia Natia Natsvlishvili also attached importance to the adoption of the Action Plan, stating the importance of the participatory process applied and reaffirming the willingness of the UNDP to provide ongoing support to the process of implementing and co-ordinating the Action Plan. During the meeting, the report on implementation of Actions for Q2 of 2023 was considered. The Deputy Minister of Justice gave an overall picture of the implementation of the Actions and touched upon the activities envisaged and performed within the scope of powers of the Ministry of Justice. Representatives of the non-governmental organisations-members of the Co-ordinating Council touched upon their comments on the report and submitted recommendations for possible betterment of implementation of the Action Plan and the monitoring activities. During the meeting, the steps to be implemented were also discussed, and an agreement was reached to modify and approve the report on implementation of the Actions for Q2 of 2023 based on the results of the meeting. The event was organised within the scope of the "Accountable Institutions and Human Rights Protection in Armenia" Project, which is funded by the European Union (EU) and is being implemented through co-operation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund and the OSCE.