Staff members of the Ombudsman Office held a meeting with representatives of USAID and IOM

Deputy head of a department of the Ombudsman Office and the head of International Relations Sector, Zaur Valimammadli and the head of the Sector for Protection of Rights of Refugees, IDPs and Migrants, Turan Jahangirova met with the delegates of  the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mark Goldenbaum, Eileen Lawless, Parviz Musayev and a representative from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to Azerbaijan, Gunel Mehdiyeva.
Greeting the guests on behalf of the Commissioner, the representative of the Ombudsman informed them in detail about the history of establishment of the Ombudsman Office and the multi-field activities of the Ombudsman.
This was noted that effective protection of the rights of refugees, IDPs and migrants, as well as combating trafficking in human beings (THB) is one of the priorities within the activity of the Commissioner. During the meeting, the guests have got acquainted with the Commissioner’s activities in the implementation of the National Program for Action to Raise Effectiveness of the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Highlighting the awareness-raising activities conducted at the initiative of the Commissioner to combat THB in cooperation with local authorities, civil society and media in the capital and regions of the country, the staff members of the Office noted the ongoing progress of this work. 
During the meeting, the guests have also been informed about the statements and additional reports submitted by the Commissioner respectively to the UN Human Rights Council and the Treaty Bodies. It was also noted that the institution has established effective cooperation with the UN, the Council of Europe and other international bodies as an accredited National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) and carries out activities to effectively protect the rights of women and children and to implement international standards at the national level in the field of combating THB. Moreover, this was also stressed that awareness raising work aimed at preventing THB is also conducted within the framework of the visits carried out by the members of Ombudsman’s National Preventive Group to the detention centers of illegal migrants under the State Migration Service.
In the course of the meeting, this was brought to the attention that twenty percent of the Azerbaijani territories were occupied by the Armenian armed forces, resulting in forced displacement of over one million refugees and IDPs from their native lands and in violation of their fundamental rights. It was stressed that a separatist regime operates in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts, therefore, there are favorable conditions for human trafficking in those areas. They mentioned that the statements concerning Khojaly Genocide have been addressed to international organizations by the Ombudsman, and the fact of mass and gross violations of human rights and freedoms as a result of the occupation was brought to the attention of the world community. 
During the meeting, questions of the guests were answered, the issues of mutual interest were discussed, and the sides exchanged views on the perspectives of further cooperation.