Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan today met with Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, who is in Yerevan on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the institution of the Ombudsman of Armenia, as reported the news service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the outset, the OSCE/ODIHR Director and Armenia’s foreign minister attached importance to the role of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and emphasized that the functioning of the latter has highly contributed to systemic protection of human rights in the country.

In the context of the processes unfolding in Armenia for the strengthening of democratic institutions, the parties highly appreciated the holding of last year’s parliamentary elections that were in line with international standards and the ongoing support that the OSCE/ODIHR has provided in this direction.

Director of the OSCE/ODIHR Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir congratulated Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on Armenia being elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Minister Mnatsakanyan reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to promoting the agenda of human rights protection and the prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity. The foreign minister emphasized that human rights remain universal values for Armenia and that cooperation for protection of those rights must be universal and include the rights of people living in territories in which there are conflicts. The foreign minister also highlighted the protection of the rights of women and children and religious and ethnic minorities as a major direction of the Armenian government’s agenda.