Ombudsman hosted an online event on the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities

The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ms. Sabina Aliyeva has organized an online meeting “Strengthening the cooperation between the Ombudsman Office and civil society institutions in the protection of the rights of the Persons with disabilities”. The Ombudsman, staff of the Office, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and the representatives of the entities working in this field have attended the virtual meeting.

In her opening speech, the Ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva spoke about the role of the Ombudsman for efficient protection of the PWDs’ rights and strengthening the interaction with civil society organizations in the concerned area. Noting that the Ombudsman has been empowered to function as an independent monitoring mechanism under Article 33.2. of the CRPD, she spoke briefed about the activity directions of the Institution towards defending the rights of the relevant population groups.   

The participants of the event were informed about the works done in the field of accessibility for the PWDs in different areas of services and the upcoming tasks.

Then, the staff members of the Ombudsman Institution Mr. Rashid Rumzada, Mr. Zaur Valimammadli and Ms. Ayten Tarverdiyeva, as well as the head of the Union of Disabled People Organizations (UDPO), a local NGO, Mr. Davud Rahimli delivered speeches. The speeches covered strategic aspects in safeguarding the rights of the PWDs and relevant activity directions of the Ombudsman.

The members of the CSOs have broadly spoken about their works in protection of the disabled people,  challenges, and upcoming tasks. At the event, the representatives from The Union of Veterans of Afganistan in Azerbaijan, The Society of the Disabled and Veterans of Karabakh, “Independent Lifestyle” Public Union for Support to the Disabled, Azerbaijan Society of Disabled Women (DWSA), Ganja City Department of the United Aid for Azerbaijan (UAFA), Guba Regional NGO Resource and Training Center, and Ganja City Department of the DWSA have put forward numerous recommendations.

Besides, during the meeting, it was sounded the problems encountered by the PWDs and the Ombudsman listened to their concerns, answered the raised questions, noting also that she would focus on their questions raised.

In the end, there were held discussions about the future perspective of the cooperation between the Ombudsman Institute and the CSOs representing the PWDs.