On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, the incumbent Commissioner Dunja Mijatović organised on 22 January 2019 in Strasbourg a panel discussion on the state of human rights in Europe with participation of the four ex Commissioners as well as the ENNHRI Chair Lora Vidović and the EQUINET Executive Board Chair Tena Šimonović Einwalter.
During the panel all participants agreed that in recent years the movement for strengthening human rights has been facing more important challenges. Nils Mužnieks, Commissioner for Human rights in the period 2012 – 2018 emphasised that the opposition to the gender equality was always very strong thus the participants called upon the incumbent Commissioner Mijatović to engage firmly against gender inequality.
– I shall not only end such behaviour but I’ll invest all my energy and experience in defending human rights. LBGTI rights, women’s rights and human rights shall be among my priorities. I have started with the economic and social rights and I’ll also continue working in that regard – said the Commissioner Mijatović, adding that for a successful mandate the cooperation with the equality bodies and national institutions for human rights is crucial.
Cooperation among national institutions, especially within the ENNHRI and EQUINET with the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, international organisations and CSO is also crucial for the Croatian Ombudswoman Lora Vidović, who in this cooperation sees the basis for resistance to the opponents who want to decrease the achieved level of human rights protection. Modus operandi of those opponents is visible for example on the migration issues.