The parliamentary commission on human rights and interethnic relations on December 13 staged public hearings on the recommendations formulated by the UN Human Rights Council for Moldova within the Universal Periodic Review. Representatives of the central public authorities said a new national human rights action plan will be worked out based on the recommendations. The members of the commission suggested that the period for implementing the plan should be 2017-2021, IPN reports.

The representatives of the central public authorities informed the commission about the 209 recommendations formulated in Geneva based on the mechanism for assessing the progress made in the area of human rights. According to the rapporteurs, a new human rights action plan will be drafted in accordance with the recommendations.

The MPs asked that the new draft plan should be presented to the commission next March so that public hearings could be held on this.

The MPs recommended that a chapter of the plan should be devoted to the national minorities, while the right to adopt the document should be given to Parliament. The commission supported the rapporteurs’ proposal to institute a national mechanism for monitoring the implementation of human rights in Moldova.

The Universal Periodic Review is a mechanism for examining the human rights performance of the 193 UN Member States. The first assessment for Moldova was carried out in 2011, while the second in November 2016.