OSCE to support Armenia’s Ombudsman’s Office ahead of elections

The Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ambassador Andrey Sorokin, and Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Karen Andreasyan, launched today a European Union-funded project to enhance the capacities of the Human Rights Defender’s Office (HRDO) in advance of the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012 and 2013.

The project envisages establishing six regional offices, supporting a hotline to report alleged human rights violations and establishing rapid reaction groups to ensure prompt response to alleged human rights violations during the elections and pre-election campaigns.

Signing the project agreement, Sorokin said: “This project seeks to enhance and promote human rights protection in the country through strengthening the capacity of the HRDO, expanding its activities and geographical outreach. By establishing regional offices the HRDO will become more accessible for the people in the regions and will contribute to the protection of human rights, better governance and the protection of electoral rights in Armenia.”

The project is part of a 1.7 million Euro joint project that was announced in January to support democratic general elections in Armenia in 2012 and 2013, to be implemented by the OSCE Office in Yerevan with EU funds.