The study visit of Azerbaijani Ombudsperson Office to Council of Europe Headquarters in Strasbourg took place on 27 and 28 September 2022. Meetings organised within this occasion covered various Council of Europe standards and activities under the antidiscrimination umbrella, including the work of the Committee on hate speech and Recommendation on combating hate speech adopted in May 2022, Children Rights, Gender Equality Department, National Minorities and Minority Languages, work of the Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity, and Inclusion (CDADI) as well as standards set by the European Court of Human Rights.

The study visit of six representatives of Ombudsperson Office was an opportunity to exchange and present the Council of Europe’s work in the field of antidiscrimination and equality, relating standards and models of activities that can be used as a basis for future activities and capacity building, strengthening the role of the equality body. This activity feeds into already established cooperation, and joint activities that are in general devoted to the improvement of access to justice for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech through non-judicial redress mechanisms and strengthening the capacity and co-operation of Ombuds Office with NGOs and contributing to the awareness raising on these issues. 

The visit was organised within the framework of the joint  European Union and the Council of Europe project  “Strengthening access to justice through non-judicial redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Eastern Partnership”, part of the programme “Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022”.