Anna Karapetyan delivers opening speech at the council meeting for Programme "Promotion of Human Rights Protection and Strengthening of National Institutions"

Deputy Minister of Justice Anna Karapetyan delivered an opening speech at the council meeting for the EU-funded Programme "Promotion of Human Rights Protection and Strengthening of National Institutions" which is being carried out by the UNDP, the UNICEF and the UN Population Fund.

Anna Karapetyan expressed gratitude to the Programme for the ongoing support to the activities of the Ministry of Justice in the area of human rights protection and constitutional reforms and provision of free legal assistance.

Anna Karapetyan highlighted the support provided by the Programme in drafting legislative amendments within the scope of the National Strategy for Human Rights Protection, organising awareness-raising activities and building the capacities of competent employees.

Importance was also attached to the role of the Council co-ordinating implementation of the 2023-2025 Action Plan arising from the National Strategy for Human Rights Protection and the Council for Juvenile Justice in the sector-specific reforms, in the activities of which the Programme also made its ongoing contribution.

The Deputy Minister also touched upon the progress of constitutional reforms by stressing that the Ministry of Justice has already launched the works for developing the text of the new Constitution, and the relevant expert assistance and organisation of public discussions will also be ensured with the support of the Programme.

Anna Karapetyan also spoke about developing a comprehensive strategy for combating discrimination and hate speech, carrying out a large-scale awareness-raising campaign and making legislative improvements with the support of the Programme.

During the meeting, the UNDP, the UNICEF and the UN Population Fund presented the Programme’s achievements of the past year and the follow-up activities, and this was followed by a discussion with the representatives of the stakeholders.