Aram Meymaryan, Deputy Minister of Environment of the RA, met with Laura Milne, Director of the Armenian Office of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI). Representatives of the relevant department of the ministry and the National Coordinator of the Aarhus Convention participated in the meeting.
Since 2023, the RWI Armenia office has been operating in Yerevan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the RA, the Human Rights Defender of the RA, the Academy of Justice, and several academic institutions. The Institute has extensive experience in linking human rights with environmental governance and offers models consistent with international and EU standards.
During the meeting, the parties discussed possible areas of cooperation, including rights-based environmental governance, access to justice in environmental matters, biodiversity conservation, and the protection of human rights. They also addressed organizational processes related to the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Aram Meymaryan highlighted the interdependence between biodiversity conservation and human rights, stressing the importance of amplifying the voices of diverse stakeholder groups. He noted that during the preparation phase of COP17, it is essential to form a common agenda and ensure broad public participation. At the conclusion of the meeting, the parties agreed on the importance of further strengthening their cooperation and engaging the expertise of the RWI more actively in the development and implementation of environmental policies.