From October 24 to 26 of this year, Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO Lawyer and Project Coordinator participated in the regional seminar for law enforcement representatives and civil society representatives from the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership beneficiaries on the theme of “Police operating in diverse societies”. The workshop was organized by the Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Programmes Division of the Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity of the Council of Europe in Strasburg, France.

Within the framework of the regional seminar, more than 60 representatives of law enforcement structures civil society, and non-governmental organizations exchanged experiences during three-day discussions and participated in workshops aimed at solving various challenges related to the promotion of equality and diversity based on European standards and instruments. In this context, participants were introduced to the recently published training manual “Police Education for Equality and Non-Discrimination at the local level’’, a practical tool providing guidelines on how to embed diversity principles in the work of law enforcement effectively.

The employees of the  Right Side NGO presented the situation in Armenia, the organization’s current court cases, the specifics of work with vulnerable groups in Armenia, and the reasons for distrust of the police and state authorities by Trans LGBIQ people.

The seminar has been an important learning and exchange opportunity for Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO in terms of best practices of integrating human rights frameworks in police protecting vulnerable groups in countries of the region, which can be useful for the Armenian context.

November 15, 2023 Armenia, Yerevan