Information for the Press: Conference on National Human Rights Institutions in Western Balkans
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: National Human Rights Institutions and the promotion and protection of Human Rights in Macedonia and the Western Balkans
October 2, 2012, Skopje – On October 3-4, 2012, The Center for Regional Policy Research and Cooperation “Studiorum” will organize the International Conference titled “National Human Rights Institutions and the promotion and protection of Human Rights in Macedonia and the Western Balkans” at the EU Info Centre.
The official opening of the conference will be on October 3 at 14.00h with a session including Ixhet Memeti, Ombudsperson of the Republic of Macedonia, Sami Kurteshi, Ombudsperson of the Republic of Kosovo, and Almedina Karić, Communication and International Relations Advisor at the Ombudsperson’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following sessions will gather experts and representatives from institutions, CSOs and think-tanks from Macedonia and the Western Balkans.
The overall aim of the conference is to serve as a platform for representatives of the European and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) and other public institutions, policy researchers and experts in the field. Subject of interest and discussion will be the current situation and challenges concerning Human Rights and the NHRI institutional models bringing into focus the NHRIs from the region and Macedonia in particular. The participants will discuss in detail the most effective NHRI models in the Macedonian context, following the Paris Principles.
Organized within the project “Solving an Institutional Puzzle: What National Human Rights Institution Model for Macedonia,” this conference is financially supported by the National Endowment for Democracy from Washington, USA. Its main purpose is to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for the process of institutional model design of the NHRI in Macedonia in line with both the international standards and best practices and the political and socio-economic specificities in the country, so to achieve status “A” accreditation.
The conclusions and all other materials will soon be available on CRPRC Studiorum’s official website www.studiorum.org.mk
Contact person: Dimitar Nikolovski, (02)3065-837/ e-mail: info@studiorum.org.mk