The Council of Europe organised a second two-day training seminar for the staff of the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (CHR) of the Republic of Kazakhstan focusing on handling individual complaints.
The event, held at the Sheraton Hotel in Astana and organised in cooperation with the Office of the Commissioner, brought together 16 representatives from the central Office of the CHR, building upon the first training held earlier this year. It aimed to further enhance institutional capacities in processing, analysing and following up on individual complaints, which are a key component of the Ombudsperson’s mandate.
Over the two days, the participants explored a wide range of topics, including classification and admissibility of complaints, based on type of rights, groups affected, urgency, and jurisdiction; complaint assessment and investigation, including fact-finding, legal evaluation and formulation of recommendations; review of international best practices and comparison with procedures of international human rights mechanisms; applicant-friendly approaches, ensuring accessibility, confidentiality, timely response, and respectful communication; inter-agency coordination and referral mechanisms; digital transformation, covering digitisation of workflows, user-friendly interfaces and examples of successful international practices.
The training combined interactive discussions, case studies and group exercises, allowing participants to apply theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios.
The event concluded with a wrap-up session, where participants reflected on lessons learned and identified steps to further strengthen the complaint-handling procedures and the overall protection of human rights in Kazakhstan.
The training was organised in the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Reinforcing the institutional capacity of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) institution in Kazakhstan” implemented under the Council of Europe Neighbourhood Cooperation Priorities with the Republic of Kazakhstan, funded by Germany.