The work of Latvia’s Ombudswoman, Karina Palkova, this year will primarily focus on the protection of human rights in everyday situations where residents most often encounter unlawful, disproportionate, or unjustified actions or inaction by state or municipal authorities, the Ombudsman’s Office of Latvia reported.
This will include a strong focus on the protection of children’s rights, including the right to a safe and emotionally supportive environment in educational institutions, protection against violence and cyberviolence, as well as timely and accessible healthcare and mental health services.
Palkova also plans to devote attention this year to the protection of patients’ rights, strengthening respectful treatment, the provision of clear and understandable information to patients, and the development of effective, human-rights-compliant mechanisms for safeguarding patient rights.
At the same time, efforts will focus on reducing digital exclusion, with particular attention to ensuring that seniors, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups can access digital public services, financial services, and healthcare services, thereby preventing digital discrimination.
Another priority will be the protection of the rights of people in institutional care,
including those in nursing homes, social care centers, child care institutions, and other long-term or closed-care facilities.
This year, the Ombudswoman has also identified a human-rights-based approach to migration and asylum issues as a priority, ensuring proportionality between state security interests and the protection of individual fundamental rights.
The Ombudsman’s Office also highlights good governance as a human-rights-based foundation of democracy and state resilience, ensuring that the actions of state and municipal authorities serve people rather than formal procedures.
In fulfilling its educational mandate under the Ombudsman Law, the Ombudsman’s Office of Latvia will place special emphasis in 2026 on strengthening public and administrative understanding of human rights, promoting consistent and human-rights-based application of legal norms in practice.
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