The discrimination unit has been established because the European Union requires equality institutions, which in the case of Latvia is the Ombudsman, to ensure counseling, examination of applications, and investigation of equality problems.
Office functions previously included several of the tasks of the newly created Anti-discrimination Unit. The collection of various data and the provision of feedback to the European Union will come along and more research will be available.
The main challenge for the department will be a broad assessment of the discrimination situation in the country, as this has not been done so far. It's hoped to be done this year.
Studies have been carried out on, for example, gender discrimination in employment or access to goods and services, but this is not enough.
“There are improvements in some areas [..] but if we had such a large comprehensive study, then we would be better able to provide information,” explained Anete Ilves, head of the Anti-discrimination Unit at the Ombudsman's Office.
