Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights addresses ENNHRI members at General Assembly meeting in Geneva
ENNHRI’s General Assembly meeting took place on 4 March in Geneva, where Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, affirmed her office’s readiness to support and collaborate with National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs).
The meeting began with the announcement of two new institutions joining ENNHRI’s membership since the last meeting in October – the Chancellor of Justice of Estonia and the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro. The Board approved the institutions’ membership applications two weeks prior.
In small groups, participants discussed current trends in the areas of economic and social rights, democracy and rule of law, and asylum and migration. This allowed for national experiences and challenges in these areas to be shared among member institutions.
After hearing the output of these discussions, Dunja Mijatović affirmed her interest in and prioritisation of these thematic issues and emphasised her office’s readiness to support and collaborate with NHRIs in Europe. In particular, she referred to her recent human rights comment, in which she stressed the importance of independent and effective NHRIs.
The meeting also included a welcome of ENNHRI’s new Board, which was elected at the last General Assembly meeting in Athens. ENNHRI Secretary-General, Debbie Kohner, paid tribute to the service of the former Board members, and particularly Lora Vidović, Ombudswoman of Croatia, for her institution’s contribution and leadership as Chair of ENNHRI.
The meeting concluded with an address by ENNHRI’s new Chair, Emily Logan, on behalf of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, who praised and congratulated the former Board members for their work and commitment in strengthening ENNHRI over the past three years.
» Read about the ENNHRI’s Chair and Board for 2019-2021
» Read the human rights comment of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
Photo: Left to right: Debbie Kohner (ENNHRI Secretary-General), Lora Vidović (Ombudswoman of Croatia) and Dunja Mijatović (Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights)
