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Institutional statement
Social rights: Bridging the gap from policy to people
Institutional statement to the High-Level Conference on Social Rights, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova Madam President, Secretary General, Excellencies, good morning. In the course of my work, it is my distinct privilege to be welcomed into homes and community centres across the continent. In that...
Joint statement
Social Rights: An Essential Component of the Fight Against Poverty
Joint Statement of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on the occasion of the Council of Europe High-Level Conference on Social Rights As representatives of the Council of Europe Member States gather...
Memorandum
United Kingdom: Council of Europe Commissioner welcomes recent policies to address child poverty, urges their full implementation
"The UK government’s new strategy has the potential to deliver a sea change in addressing child poverty," says the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty in a memorandum following his visit to the United Kingdom from 30 June to 4 July 2025. The memorandum acknowledges...
Country visit
Italy: Council of Europe Commissioner calls for renewed action to break the cycle of child poverty and to ensure the protection of everyone’s human rights
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...
Country visit
United Kingdom: tackling poverty is crucial to protect children’s human rights; a number of other areas also call for attention
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, conducted a visit to the United Kingdom from 30 June to 4 July 2025, during which he focused primarily on child poverty. He also addressed certain other human rights issues, including the management of irregular migration,...
Memorandum
Greece should ensure that Roma have access to adequate housing and are not subject to discriminatory treatment or violence by law enforcement authorities
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, published today a memorandum on the human rights of Roma in Greece, following his visit to the country from 3 to 7 February 2025. The Commissioner acknowledges the efforts deployed by Greece to address the human rights...
Speech
Human rights oversight of artificial intelligence
Speech delivered at the Embassy of Ireland in Paris. Monsieur l’Ambassadeur, Excellences, Mesdames et Messieurs, Chers amis, Many years ago, I was sitting on a hotel terrace, looking across the lawn. As I sat there, I became aware of a little machine going up and down the grass, cutting as it...
Speech
Commissioner’s video message to the National Forum on the Implementation of the Roma Strategy
Video message delivered to the ‘National Forum on the Implementation of the Roma Strategy. Valuing Diversity’, organised by the NGO Voice of Romni, Kyiv, 30 January 2025: Dear friends, thank you so much for inviting me to participate in this conference. I'm sorry that I cannot be with you in...
Speech
Social Rights are Human Rights!
Introductory speech at the opening session of the High-Level Conference on the European Social Charter, organised in Vilnius, under the auspices of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Committee of Minister, as part of the follow-up to the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe Ministers, Excellencies,...
Speech
How standing up for social rights can help counter Russia's war on human rights in Ukraine
Opening remarks at the side event “Protecting social rights in times of war in Ukraine” on the occasion of the High-Level Conference on the European Social Charter, organised in Vilnius, under the auspices of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Committee of Minister, as part of the follow-up to the...
Country visit report
Germany: Follow through with human rights commitments and improve access to social rights
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, published today the report following her visit to Germany from 27 November to 1 December 2023, with recommendations regarding the available structures and legal frameworks to protect human rights, and on access to social rights, in...
Country visit
Germany: address growing poverty and inequality by better protecting social rights and reinforce general frameworks for human rights protection
“While Germany has a well-developed welfare system, persistent challenges in accessing social rights have resulted in disquieting levels of poverty, social inequality and homelessness, affecting a growing part of the population. Rapid action must be taken to better protect the right to an...
Letter
Ireland: Secure dignified accommodation for all refugees and asylum seekers through a government-wide approach
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister of Ireland, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, published today, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović raises concerns about the...
Letter
Commissioner calls on Belgium to ensure accommodation and material assistance for asylum seekers
In her letter addressed to Belgium’s State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, Nicole De Moor, published today, the Commissioner expresses her concerns about the current situation of individuals seeking international protection in Belgium. A lack of available accommodation in reception facilities...
Country visit report
United Kingdom: Commissioner warns against regression on human rights, calls for concrete steps to protect children’s rights and to tackle human rights issues in Northern Ireland
“Both the overall system for protecting human rights, and the rights of specific groups, are currently under pressure in the United Kingdom (UK). The authorities should spare no effort to reverse this trend”, warns today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, while...
Country visit
Spain should advance social rights, better guarantee freedoms of expression and assembly and improve human rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants
“Spain has made significant efforts to advance the protection of social rights in recent years. Crucial legislative reforms, currently pending in Parliament, provide an opportunity to align Spanish legislation with international and European human rights standards, including in the field of the...
Statement
Eradicate poverty through human rights-based fiscal policies
“With extreme poverty on the rise, I call on all member states to address poverty systematically and comprehensively, including by pursuing fiscal policies that are firmly based on human rights”, said today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, on the occasion of...
Country visit report
Georgia should ensure effective implementation of the anti-discrimination legislation and improve protection of human rights in the fields of labour and the environment
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, published today the report following her visit to Georgia in February 2022, with recommendations on combating discrimination against LGBTI people and those belonging to religious minorities, as well as protecting human rights...
Country visit
United Kingdom: backsliding on human rights must be prevented
“Legal reforms should not weaken human rights protections in the United Kingdom”, said today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, following a five-day visit to the country (27 June to 1 July), which focused on the system for human rights protection, the situation...
Statement on World Health Day
Inclusive and resilient health care for all – are we closer?
It has been over a year since I published my Issue paper on protecting the right to health. In February 2021, as Europe was gripped by the multiple impacts of COVID-19, I addressed recommendations to member states on how to secure access to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental...
Letter
Germany should pursue efforts to fully ensure children’s rights
In a letter addressed to Christine Lambrecht, the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection and Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany, made public today, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, urges the German...
Human Rights Comment
Boosting child and youth participation - from voice to choice
Amid the ongoing pandemic and its disastrous effects on multiple aspects of human rights protection across the globe, there is consensus in one area: children and young people have been particularly hard hit. While – thus far at least – they have largely been spared from the direct health effects...
Human Rights Comment
Reform of mental health services: an urgent need and a human rights imperative
Already in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was warning that substantial investment in mental health services was necessary to avert a mental health crisis. The evidence for the devastating impact of the pandemic on mental health is now overwhelming....
Issue Paper
States must act now on their duty to ensure the best attainable standard of physical and mental health for all
"For one year now, countries around the world have been battling with the catastrophic consequences of COVID-19. As governments are making mass vaccination their top priority, they should act now to rebuild inclusive health care systems," said today Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe...
Country visit report
The Republic of Moldova should ratify the Istanbul Convention, improve its response to hate speech and advance access to quality healthcare, affordable housing and social inclusion for all
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, published today a report on her visit to the Republic of Moldova in March this year – which included travel to Comrat (Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia) and Tiraspol - with recommendations on violence against women and...
Human Rights Comment
Learning from the pandemic to better fulfil the right to health
The COVID-19 pandemic has concentrated minds about the resilience of our health care systems and it is challenging member states’ health policies and their effectiveness. In addition, doctors, medical staff and health care staff are under unprecedented pressure. Do we have sufficient medical...
Human Rights Comment
Protecting the human rights of sex workers
The lived realities of sex workers across Europe raise serious human rights concerns. It is crucial to approach this important and complex issue with a full understanding of the human rights consequences of the experience of high levels of violence and inadequate protection from law enforcement...
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