After a four-day visit to Italy from 12 to 16 January, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty today urged national authorities to make progress on eradicating persistent child poverty and to strengthen the country’s human rights architecture, including by establishing an independent National Human Rights Institution (NHRI).

“Intergenerational poverty is not an inevitability”, Commissioner O’Flaherty said, emphasising that “to ensure the next generation can live without fear or want, regardless of the family they are born into or the region they live in, Italy needs a robust, comprehensive, rights-based strategy that addresses the root causes of inequality and breaks the cycle of poverty for good.” He also highlighted that “Italy is a real outlier being one of just few countries that do not have an independent NHRI or are in the process of establishing one. This gap should be filled.”

The Commissioner expresses his gratitude to the Italian authorities for their cooperation and for the exchanges.

Eradicating child poverty

The Commissioner welcomes the efforts Italy has undertaken to tackle child poverty, including the introduction of a universal child allowance (Assegno Unico e Universale) in 2022. He acknowledges the attention paid by successive governments to the high incidence of child poverty, including by shielding children from cuts on allowances imposed on other social groups. He also notes that all the interlocutors he met during the visit recognised the importance of this challenge and the need for urgent solutions.

Despite these efforts, data from reliable sources such as ISTAT, Caritas and others continue to paint a worrying picture. Rates of absolute and relative poverty in Italy remain significantly above the EU average. These rates affect children unequally across regions and social groups and are perpetuated through intergenerational transmission. This shows the need for more robust and adequate policy responses.

In this context, the Commissioner calls on the authorities to develop a comprehensive child poverty eradication strategy that, building on ongoing sectoral initiatives, is rights-based and government-wide. Actions should address the multiple perspectives of child poverty, including education, health and the social security system. To be effective, measures should be steered and implemented by national authorities, in consultation and coordination with local government and civil society. Adequate funding should be provided to ensure that investment in children remains sustainable beyond the exhaustion of existing European and national funds. Areas to be addressed include the funding and management of school canteens, which are essential for providing children with protein-rich food, but also for ensuring their presence at school throughout the day. 

The Commissioner acknowledges the complexity of this challenge, as solutions can only be found through adequate co-ordination at multiple levels of governance. In this sense, he highlights the importance of establishing nation-wide Essential Levels of Provision (Livelli Essenziali di Prestazione, LEP) to ensure that all children’s social rights are fulfilled, regardless of the region they live in. These should be introduced promptly and accompanied by adequate resources, particularly in territories where poverty is highly concentrated. 

Attention should be given to the needs of the most disadvantaged children – including non-citizens without long-term residence permits and children from Roma communities. Benefit conditions should not prevent children living in poverty from accessing allowances and services. Marginalisation should be addressed through increased investment in social and structural measures to promote effective inclusion. 

The national architecture for the protection of human rights

While welcoming the widespread recognition of the need to establish a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), as Italy has pledged on multiple occasions, the Commissioner notes that Italy remains one of the few Council of Europe member states without an NHRI or a decisive movement towards establishing one.

While multiple bills have been introduced in parliament for the establishment of an NHRI, the Commissioner encourages the authorities to prioritise this matter. The Italian legislator has to define the most suitable model for the national context. At a minimum, the NHRI should be fully compliant with the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (the so-called Paris Principles) to be accredited with “Status A" by the Global Alliance of NHRIs. The Commissioner underscores that an NHRI should be fully independent of the government in terms of its structure, functions, staffing and culture, and should have a broad mandate encompassing all human rights. It should also be adequately resourced to function effectively. 

Reforms required under EU legislation, such as the adoption of minimum standards for equality bodies and the designation of independent authorities to monitor the screening of procedures at borders and to protect human rights in relation to the use of artificial intelligence, should provide impetus for a review of Italy’s existing human rights structures. Existing human rights bodies should be reinforced. To this end, strengthening their independence is essential – including through transparent, participatory and merit-based recruitment processes, and by ensuring they have adequate resources, including permanent staff. 

During the visit, the Commissioner was inspired by encounters with children and adolescents, including at a primary school and a social centre run by civil society organisations that support them and their families. There, children can play, learn and grow regardless of their socio-economic background, language or ethnicity. These meetings made it even more apparent that, when offered adequate support and opportunities, young people can thrive and lead. Their message was clear:  the authorities have to meet their human rights obligations and avoid any backsliding in the protection of their dignity.

During his visit to Italy, the Commissioner met with the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Marina Elvira Calderone; the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Giorgio Silli; the President of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Human Rights, Giovanni Battista Iannuzzi; the Director General of the National Office Against Racial Discrimination, Mattia Peradotto; the Constitutional Affairs Committees of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies; the Extraordinary Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights of the Senate; and the Italian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The Commissioner also met with the President of the Ombudsperson for persons deprived of liberty, Riccardo Turrini Vita, and Member, Mario Serio, and with the Ombudsperson for Children and Adolescents, Marina Terragni.

Furthermore, the Commissioner met with a number of civil society organisations and experts on the topics under examination. He also delivered a speech on the need to protect the European Convention on Human Rights at Roma 3 University.

Finally, the Commissioner met with children, teachers, local authorities and representatives of the organisations Con I Bambini and Asinitas in the primary school Pisacane, and with teenagers, social workers and representatives of the organisations Save the Children and Antropos in the “Punto Luce” of Torre Maura. 

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on European standardisation related to artificial intelligence (AI).

The Memorandum of Understanding provides the basis for cooperation between FRA and CEN-CENELEC in its Joint Technical Committee 21 (JTC 21). This committee is tasked with developing standards in the field of artificial intelligence under the EU AI Act. FRA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the development of technical standards with its research findings and fundamental rights expertise.

FRA, CEN and CENELEC are three of the five permanent members of the upcoming Advisory Forum established under the AI Act. The Advisory Forum will be tasked with providing technical expertise and advice to the European AI Board and the Commission.

Over the past few years, digitalization has emerged as one of the most important areas of state reform in the Republic of Moldova, accelerated by the country’s European integration process, recent crises, and the growing expectations of its citizens. The development of digital public services has aimed to reduce bureaucracy, increase the efficiency of public administration, facilitate access to services, and strengthen the resilience of the state.

This rapid transformation brings undeniable benefits, but it also generates significant risks for human rights. Digitalization is not neutral from this perspective:  the way technologies are designed, implemented, and governed can either strengthen fundamental rights or make them vulnerable.

Based on this reality, People’s Advocate Office, in partnership with the Danish Institute for Human Rights, has developed a study dedicated to analyzing the impact of digitalization on fundamental rights. The study provides an assessment of emerging risks and proposes concrete recommendations to ensure that technology serves the public interest and protects the dignity and rights of every person.

The study also supports decision-makers, public institutions, academia, civil society, the private sector, and international partners by providing a practical prevention tool that allows for the identification and management of human rights risks. This is all the more important as the Republic of Moldova does not currently have a formal mechanism for assessing the impact of digitalization, and the existing measures are fragmented and predominantly reactive; in the absence of a structured framework, systemic risks only become visible after the damage has been done.

The study was based on a mixed methodological design: analysis of the legislative framework and national policies, a multisectoral discussion group organized by the Ombudsman’s Office (March 28, 2025, 17 participants), a questionnaire administered to discussion group participants, and a public online survey ( March-April 2025; 66 complete responses) .

Main human rights-centered findings:

• Fragmentation of the legal framework: The lack of a unified and coherent legislative framework in the field of digital governance generates unequal guarantees and unclear responsibilities between institutions, affecting the predictability and application of fundamental rights, including the right to privacy and effective redress.
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• Affecting the right to privacy and data protection: The expansion of state registers, the exchange of data between institutions and the use of emerging technologies increase the risk of excessive surveillance, unauthorized access to data and disproportionate use of personal information.
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• Automated decisions without sufficient guarantees: Frequent use of artificial intelligence and automated decision-making without clear mechanism of human oversight, transparency and challenge can lead to opaque decisions, systemic errors and discrimination. In May 2025, ChatGPT owned 91.4% of the mobile chatbots market based on artificial intelligence in the Republic of Moldova, followed by Microsoft Copilot and Gemini.
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• Digital exclusion and indirect discrimination: Elderly people, persons with disabilities, linguistic minorities and rural communities risk being excluded from equal access to essential services, unless digitalization is accompanied by measures of accessibility, linguistic parity and equivalent offline alternatives.
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• Freedom of expression and online safety:  The insufficiently developed governance of digital platforms creates risks for freedom of expression, child protection, and combating hate speech without affecting pluralism and democratic debate.
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• Data protection: While progress has been made, enforcement capacity remains insufficient in sensitive sectors such as health, justice, social protection and education.

Key recommendations reflected in the Study:

• Adopt a coherent national vision for digital governance by harmonizing laws, policies, and fragmented strategies within a single regulatory framework. This could ensure greater clarity, coherence and accountability in the way digital reforms are designed and implemented.
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• Ensure inclusion and equality by integrating accessibility standards, multilingual parity and offline equivalence into all digital reforms. Essential services must remain available to everyone, including those who do not have digital access or face language and physical barriers.
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• Place human rights in the center of digital transformation, by introducing human rights and data protection impact assessments as a mandatory element of every major initiative. Integrating safeguard from the design stage can prevent rights violations and build public trust.
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• Strengthen institutional cooperation and accountability by promoting systematic coordination between Parliament, Government, supervisory bodies, local authorities, and civil society. Transparent reporting and open dialogue can ensure democratic control of digitalization processes.
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• Align Moldova’s digital reforms with European and international standards, including the GDPR, NIS2 Directive, AI Act, and Digital Services Act. This alignment would strengthen Moldova’s path towards EU integration while adopting internationally recognized best practices.
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• Invest in capacity building and public awareness so that institutions, businesses, and citizens have the knowledge, skills, and tools to navigate the digital space responsibly and safely. For children, this requires education on digital skills, accountability of online platforms, and capacity building of child protection institutions.

To support public institutions, the study includes in its annex a “Digitalization and human rights” checklist (Annex 1) – a tool that could be used to identify and manage risks throughout the technology lifecycle – and a stakeholder and impact matrix (Annex 2) for prioritizing interventions.

The study does not aim to be exhaustive assessment: the empirical basis has limitations in terms of time and sample size. Based on these limitations, the report recommends launching a comprehensive follow-up assessment program with broader sectoral coverage, extensive consultation, and technical audits for high-risk systems.

Approximately 60 stakeholders attended, including representatives from the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, the Agency for Cybersecurity, the National Center for Personal Data Protection, the Council for Equality, the Audiovisual Council, the Agency for Digitalization in Justice and Judicial Administration, the General Police Inspectorate, the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Service, as well as civil society organizations (Promo-LEX, Amnesty International Moldova, IMS – International Media Support, Platform for Gender Equality), international organizations and institutions (European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, Embassy of Denmark, UN OHCHR Moldova UNICEF Moldova, UN Women Moldova), the private sector (Moldcell SA) and academia (Moldova State University, Technical University of Moldova, Cybercor Institute, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova) — demonstrates a shared commitment to this priority.

Present at the event, MR. Andrei Cusca, Head of the Information Technology and Digitalization Policy Department within the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, presented the ministry’s initiatives and achievements in the field of digitization, and subsequently welcomed the launch of the study, noting its relevance in the context of digitization processes.

The Danish Institute’s senior advisor on human rights, business, and technology, praised the comprehensive and inclusive nature of the study’s development process, which involved a variety of relevant actors in the field of digitalization in the Republic of Moldova, expressing hope that this initiative will contribute to promoting digitalization based on respect for human rights at the national level.

“Digitization is not only an opportunity to modernize public services, but also a major responsibility: the way we adopt and govern digital technologies will determine whether the fundamental rights of every citizen are protected or exposed to risks.” – Ceslav Panico, Ombudsman.

In this regard, the study reinforces the position of the Ombudsman’s Office as a key player in risk prevention and the protection of fundamental rights in the era of artificial intelligence, in full compliance with emerging European standards and the Republic of Moldova’s international obligations in the field of human rights.

Following the launch of the Study, the People’s Advocate Office, in partnership with the Danish Institute for Human Rights, intends to initiate several measures aimed at strengthening the human rights-based approach in digitalization processes. These include the establishment of a Working Group or an intersectoral Council that can provide expertise in identifying areas of intervention and public policies that need improvement. At the same time, the Ombudsman aims to develop education and information platforms designed to raise awareness of the impact of digitalization on human rights.

Digitalization can be a catalyst for democratic progress only if it is designed and governed with respect for human dignity, equality, and the rule of law. Preventing the risks identified in the study requires a joint effort by public authorities, the private sector, civil society, academia, and international partners.

The elaboration of the study and the organization of the launch event of the study was carried out within the Memorandum of Understanding 2024-2025 between People’s Advocate Office and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

The full study, including its annexes and the proposed instruments, is publicly available on the official website of the People’s Advocate Office: https://ombudsman.md/evaluation-study-impact-of-digitalization-on-human-rights-in-the-republic-of-moldova-2/

The Public Defender of Georgia has submitted an alternative report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which was prepared in response to the list of issues submitted by the Committee in relation to Georgia's third periodic report.

The document represents an independent and additional assessment of the state of implementation of Georgia's obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and is based on monitoring carried out under the mandate of the Public Defender, consideration of individual cases and thematic reports.

The document discusses the problems of poverty and child poverty, housing and homelessness. The report also assesses the state of labour rights and decent working conditions, and challenges in terms of equality between women and men.

The Committee will consider the report at its 79^th session on February 11-12.

In January 2024, the Public Defender of Georgia submitted an alternative report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for the 74^th pre-sessional working meeting as well, in which he responded to Georgia’s 3rd periodic report and assessed the state of implementation of the commitments assumed under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.