At the beginning of this week, on the 4th and 5th of July, the Institute for Human Rights organized a workshop for developing an organizational advocacy plan. The workshop was part of the project "Access to Justice for All", supported by the European Union, and its goal was to strengthen the capacities of the Institute for Human Rights. The participants of the workshop were the members of the Executive Office of IHR, the members of the Management Board of IHR, as well as some members of the Assembly of IHR. 

One of the strategic priorities of IHR is ensuring equality and nondiscrimination. Recently, the Institute identified issues in the exercise of the right to vote and to stand for election of persons with disabilities in North Macedonia. Therefore, the focus of the advocacy plan is the national legal framework regarding the right to vote and to stand for election of persons with disabilities and its compliance with the standards set in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the United Nations. 

The Institute for Human Rights was guided in the development and the writing of the advocacy plan by Vladimir Lazovski and Martina Smilevska-Kcheva. 

In the upcoming period, the Institute will focus on finalizing the advocacy plan and implementing the planned activities in order to ensure the full and equal enjoyment of the right to vote and stand for elections for all.