Elderly who live on or below the poverty threshold in the Caribbean Netherlands face several problems. They hardly have money to cover their basic needs, there are too few (care) facilities and they don’t know which benefits they might be entitled to.

The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, recently adopted a new set of 25 key principles to help protect and promote ombudsmen. The “Venice Principles” have been presented at the Council of Europe office in Brussels on 10 September 2019.

 

Under the new Constitution of 2015 the mandate of the Human Rights Defender (HRD) has been expanded by including the power to facilitate the improvement of the regulatory legal acts related to human rights and freedoms. Following the Constitutional Amendments, a new Constitutional Law on Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia was adopted in December 2016. Within this constitutional function, a new practice of reflecting monitoring results in draft laws by the HRD Office is being exercised.

The Ombudsman of Azerbaijan received the Chief of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission to Azerbaijan Mr. Vladimir Giorgiyev.

Today’s most pressing undemocratic trends resurfacing in many parts of Europe concern freedom of expression, the independence of the judiciary, the impact of artificial intelligence on human rights and discrimination against vulnerable people. The “Council of Europe Highlights 2018” show how diverse bodies of the Council of Europe, in cooperation with its member states, worked throughout the past year to tackle them, with the aim of making Europe a safer and more democratic place for everybody.

The Commission on Monday, September 2, 2019, hosted a delegation from the Office of the Ombudsman, Burundi. The delegation which was led by the Chief Ombudsman, Hon. Edouard Nduwimana, visited the Commission to learn its operations and share experience and lessons in the implementation of the Ombudsman’s mandate.

The Office of the Ombudsman has released a report on an investigation of alleged malpractices resulting in removal of uteruses from expectant women in public health facilities titled “Woes of the Womb”.

La Defensoría del Pueblo de Perú expresó hoy su protesta contra el Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas (MEF), por haber reducido en un 76% el presupuesto solicitado para impulsar acciones dirigidas a enfrentar la lucha contra la violencia hacia mujeres, niñas y adolescentes en nuestro país durante el próximo año. Así lo contempla el Proyecto de Ley de Presupuesto General de la República para el año 2020 presentado por el Ejecutivo al Congreso de la República.