Office of Children’s Ombudsman has been instituted

The Moldovan Parliament on Friday, March 21, instituted the office of an ombudsman specialized exclusively in children’s rights protection, Info-Prim Neo reports. The number of ombudsmen has been increased from three to four following the approval of the regulations on the Center for Human Rights (CHR) and the way of financing this institution. A novelty in CHR’s structure is the service for children’s rights protection. This specialized subunit will assist the Ombudsman for Children in exercising his/her duties in guaranteeing children’s rights and constitutional liberties. CHR’s annual report will include a separate chapter to describe the way children’s rights are observed in Moldova. The establishment of the Office of Children’s Ombudsman is one of the requirements prescribed by international treaties Moldova is party to and by national strategic documents. CHR’s structure is to be approved by Parliament ordinance. The legislature will designate the director of the Center from among the ombudsmen. Previously, the nomination was made by the Speaker of the Parliament. The Center for Human Rights is a government agency enjoying broad independence whose task is to assist ombudsmen in doing their job, to improve the legislation in the field of human rights protection, and raise the population’s levels of legal knowledge.