Τhe establishment of an independent European mechanism for the external control of forced return operations was decided at Nafplio-Greece from the Ombudsmen of ten Member States. The aim of this new mechanism will be the defense of the fundamental rights, the enshrined of transparency and legality, as well as, the establishment of accountability of those involved in such operations.

The meeting took place on 22 and 23 of May at the premises of the University of Harvard at Nafplio. The initiative was taken by the Greek Ombudsman Mr. A. Pottakis in collaboration with the Ombudsmen of other ten member states and the support of the Council of Europe. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the Ombudsmen of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, as well as, members of the Council of Europe. Two preparatory meetings were preceded. The first took place in Nafplio on October of 2018 and the second one in Athens on February 2019. There were also informative meetings of Mr. Pottakis with representatives of European institutions and more specifically from the European Union, the European Council and the services of Frontex and Fundamental Rights Agency.

The promotion and defense of the rights of the child are fundamental tasks of the State and of the community, being assumed not only as ethical duties, but also as obligations that have already reached the juridical level, based on national and international instruments.

Therefore, celebrating the day of the child implies to affirm its singularity as a holder of autonomous rights, specifically recognized to meet the special needs demanded by the different stages of development of childhood and adolescence.

But celebrating a child's day also requires looking beyond the existing legal framework and entering the concrete plane of life where challenges to the realization of rights materialize in the daily lives of so many children and so many families.

For this reason, the Ombudsman, as the National Human Rights Institution, has produced a report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the occasion of the presentation of the 5th and 6th national reports for the 82nd session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to be held in Geneva from 9 to 27 September 2019. Education issues - such as drop-out, absenteeism and school failure - child poverty, domestic violence and child and youth care in danger and of refugee children, deserved particular attention on the part of this organ of the State.

It should also be recalled that, in order to respond to situations of children and young people in situations of risk or danger, the Ombudsman has a free telephone line - the Children's Line (800 20 66 56), which answered, in the year 2018, 553 calls.

The Azerbaijani Ombudsman participated in an international scientific-practical conference on the topic of “The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Tajikistan: achievements and perspectives” organized by the Commissioner for Human Rights of Tajikistan in Dushanbe.

The Ombudspersons and specialsits from Central Asia, heads of state bodies, representatives of the OSCE, EU,UN and OHCHR, International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, also other international organizations took part at this event.

The current challenges of the NHRIs in Central Asia, their practices, the issue of regional cooperation, Paris principles, their role in fulfillment of international obligations on human rights, the relations with state bodies and civil society were discussed at the event.

During the speech the Ombudsman spoke about the Institution’s activities as a NHRI in the frame of the Paris Principles for effective protection and promotion of human rights. It was also emphasized the importance of engaging the civil society and strengthening the cooperation with local state bodies in implementation of SDGs and conducting join monitoring.

In the end of the speech the Ombudsman called the NHRIs to the cooperation and joint activity under the Goal 17 of SDGs and the UNHCHR slogan “Stand up for human rights.”