On Tuesday 3 April, Dunja Mijatovic officially took up the post of Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. She was elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 24 January.
Of Bosnian nationality, Mijatovic is the first women to hold the post. She is a media expert and takes over from Nils Muiznieks of Latvia whose six-year, non-renewable mandate ran from 2012 to 2018.
“In terms of priorities, my vision is simple. In a word, it is implementation. Norms, resolutions, treaties are there to guide us”, said Mijatovic. She underlined the “political will to make sure they are realised” and also stressed the role of civil society saying: “We must engage our societies at large in their implementation”.
In her message of welcome on the website of the Council of Europe (COE), Mijatovic says “everyone” must be involved in “a dialogue on human rights”.
Based on the promotion of human rights, the commissioner’s mandate is geared not only to assisting member states but also to implementing COE norms and to heightening awareness of the human rights issue, especially through education. There must be cooperation with a whole series of national and international institutions including the United Nations and its specialised offices, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The commissioner’s office also cooperates with universities, think tanks and the main human rights NGOs. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)