Pristina, July 17, 2024 – Civil society organizations presented and discussed with the Ombudsman their report on the state of human rights for 2023. 37 civil society organizations participated in the compilation of the report, and the process of drafting the report it is done on the principle of participation and full ownership of NGOs working in the fields of human rights.

The representatives of non-governmental organizations assessed as very important the fact that the People’s Advocate has addressed a number of issues raised in their report. They requested that this spirit of cooperation continue, especially considering the process of changing the laws.

The People’s Advocate, Naim Qelaj emphasized that many of the recommendations of this report will take place in the reports that are being worked on in the institution. He also expressed gratitude for OShCV’s reaction to the vote against in the Assembly of Kosovo for the report of the Ombudsman for 2022.

He added that it is time to change the regulation of the Assembly of Kosovo in order to remove the process of voting on the Ombudsman’s report, as it is meaningless and against international standards. This issue was raised with a report of the Ombudsman, report with recommendations Ex-officio no. 563/2016, regarding the procedure for reviewing the Annual Report of the Ombudsman according to the Regulations of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.

In this meeting, the work and activities plan of the Forum for the year 2024/2025 was also discussed, which was drawn up in close cooperation with Civil Society Organizations, with the aim of promoting and advancing the protection of human rights in place.