The Ombudsman's Office is increasing cooperation with German funds and programs in the field of combating domestic violence

Commissioner for Human Rights Artur Lastayev held a meeting with the German Ambassador to Kazakhstan Monica Iversen.

The parties discussed internationally proven ways to promote the Ombudsman's mission and identified possible areas of cooperation in the field of human rights protection.

The Commissioner focused the interlocutor's attention on the achieved results of the activities of the National Human rights Institute. In particular, he spoke in detail about the new comprehensive strategy for combating domestic violence, revision.

"We, together with government agencies, are carrying out purposeful work to improve the situation in the country related to domestic violence. At the moment, the authorized bodies have developed proposals to strengthen responsibility for domestic violence, initiated measures to simplify the procedure for sending drug addicts to compulsory treatment. There are 41 crisis centers in the country that provide special social services to victims of domestic violence. Memos for victims and step-by-step algorithms for police officers have also been prepared," Lastayev said.

The Ombudsman separately focused on the innovations in the new draft law "On countering domestic violence", which is currently under consideration by the Mazhilis of the country's Parliament.

Ms. Iverson expressed satisfaction with the level of practical interaction with the Ombudsman Institute and highly appreciated the measures taken by the Kazakh side in the fight against domestic violence, emphasizing the readiness to provide resources from German funds and the TAIEX program (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange) to increase the expert potential of human rights sector employees.

Following the meeting, the parties expressed their readiness to continue mutually beneficial cooperation.