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Assessment of the capacity of human rights institutions in Zakarpattia
Report prepared by:
About publication
This report is dedicated to the public monitoring of government authorities' activities regarding ensuring equal rights and preventing discrimination against vulnerable populations. The study combined an audit of the local regulatory framework and the institutional capacity of self-government bodies with surveys of profile specialists and local residents.
Who will benefit?
- Local authorities
- Activists
- Journalists
Key findings:
The analysis revealed significant differentiation and fragmentation in the approaches of communities, as well as a systemic problem: anti-discrimination policies are predominantly declarative in nature, as they are integrated into broader social protection or gender policy programs without the creation of separate effective implementation mechanisms and performance indicators. Official statistics record a complete absence of citizen complaints regarding discrimination; however, the survey results indicate the opposite — more than a third of resident respondents (34%) have personal experience of harassment, where their status acts as the key trigger. The reluctance to move conflicts into the legal sphere is driven by a low level of awareness regarding rights protection algorithms (about 80% do not know how to act) and distrust in the effectiveness of complaint handling. The regional legal aid infrastructure is institutionally developed, yet its potential in the field of protection against discrimination remains untapped.