01 June 2018
30.05.2018, Skopje
20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OMBUDSMAN OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Ombudsman Office of the Republic of Macedonia, an opening ceremony took place in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, attended by a large number of participants from the relevant nationals institutions, diplomats, as well as Ombudsmen, both from the region and from the member countries of the Association of the Mediterranean Ombudsmen.
“As an Ombudsman and head of this institution which I have been leading for fourteen years, I am particularly proud that I remained true to my mission - protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens while dealing with all the changes and difficulties I have been faced with in the past years. Throughout the entire period of the Institution's development, we were faced with numerous challenges”.
“In the past years, we have not only protected human right and freedoms, but we have also worked on their promotion, even though we did not have such a mandate. However, we managed to make a progress, by implementing various projects supported by international donors, while the latest amendments to the Law on the Ombudsman granted us a mandate for promotion”. This was part of the speech delivered by the Ombudsman, Mr. Ixhet Memeti.
At the opening ceremony, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi, delivered an opening speech as well. He emphasized that human rights and freedoms are principles and standards upon which not only the present, but also the future of the human civilization is being built.
“In these 20 years, if we look at the statistics a bit, 123.000 citizens referred to the Ombudsman. This speaks itself that the Ombudsman institution has become recognizable among the citizens of our country”, said the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi.
The President of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Zoran Zaev, was also one of the speakers at the opening ceremony. He stressed that the Institution has full support for efficient functioning.
”The Ombudsman, as an institution which serves the citizens, needs to be the ultimate protector of the human rights and freedoms”, said the President of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Zoran Zaev in his opening speech.
The European ombudsman, Ms. Emili Orajli, addressed the participants through a video greeting while Ms. Erinda Balanca, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Albania delivered a speech on behalf of the AOM, as its President.
Ms. Bojana Urumova, Deputy Director in the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe delivered a speech on behalf of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Ms. Dunja Mijatović.
In the second part of the ceremony there was a panel discussion on the onset, development and challenges of the Ombudsman Office in the Republic of Macedonia.
In the panel discussion took part the Ombudsman Mr. Ixhet Memeti, the former President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Tito Petkovski, Ms. Lora Vidovic, President of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and Ombudsman of the Republic of Croatia, the Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Jasminka Dzumhur, the former Ombudsman of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Ermir Dobjani and the President of the Association of Journalists of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Naser Selmani.