Paris, 9 December 2015 – the Ombudsperson, Mr. Hilmi Jashari with his associates had a three day visit to Paris, where he met with his French counterpart, Mr. Jacques Toubon and his associates from “Défenseur des Droits” (Defender of the people). Two homologues from respective institutions from France and Kosovo discussed about the mandate and the responsibilities entrusted to them, challenges which they encounter daily and the perspective of the work that they do.

During their stay in France, the delegation from Ombudsperson Institution of Kosovo had the opportunity to be acquainted with the experiences of French colleagues in the field of protection against discrimination in private and public sector. Experience gained in France will contribute in development of complaint mechanism on discrimination cases as well as on practical implementation of human rights law package, which apart the Law on Ombudsperson includes also the Law on Protection from Discrimination and the Law on Gender Equality, which entered into force on July this year.

The visit to France was also focused on promoting equality and access to rights, relationships with Parliament, relationships with other institutions and partners, as well as in communication, promotion and training.

During the day, the Ombudsperson and his associates will meet Mrs. Anne-Sophie BONNET, Head of General Control of places of deprivation of liberty (Contrôleur Général des lieux de privation de liberté) and her colleagues, on which occasion exchanging experience will be focused on aspect of mandate, organization and functioning of Torture Preventing Mechanisms, which with entrance into force of the new Law on Ombudsperson, will function as separate mechanism within OI. Furthermore, issues to be discussed during the visit will be the dialogue with public institutions, civil society, media and implementation of recommendations.

The visit to France was organized and financially supported by TAIEX / European Commission and the French Embassy in Republic of Kosovo.