Natalia Gavrilița had a meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is visiting Chisinau
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, paid a visit to the Republic of Moldova on Thursday. The official had a meeting with the prime minister of the country, Natalia Gavrilița. They discussed human rights challenges – heightened by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister mentioned the Programs developed by the Government to support vulnerable people and social strata that have suffered as a result of the economic and energy crises. "Despite the challenges we face - the energy and refugee crisis, the worrying security situation in the region - the authorities are fully engaged in the process of justice reform, combating corruption and money laundering, aligning legislation with European standards, as well as improving of the human rights protection system", said Natalia Gavrilița, according to a Government release. For his part, Volker Türk noted that the Republic of Moldova faces socio-economic and humanitarian challenges, but he welcomed the fact that the Republic of Moldova is the host of tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees. “Pre-existing vulnerabilities have been exacerbated. I am grateful to the authorities for their cooperation with my field team and the entire UN system in Moldova, especially in the context of the current refugee crisis. The fact that Moldova hosted about 96,000 refugees is commendable," said Türk. During the discussions, the need to prevent actions that threaten human rights in the Transnistrian region was also outlined, and the possibility of involving the UN High Commissioner's Office (ONCHR) in dialogue with Tiraspol was analyzed.
