Authorities in Uzbekistan launch the process of development of the UPR national action plan

A three-day event was organized by the UN Human Rights Office in Central Asia (OHCHR), in cooperation with UNHCR and UNAIDS and in partnership with the National Human Rights Center (NHRC). The event took place in Tashkent region on 17-19 July 2024 and included presentations from UN experts and state officials as well as practical exercises.

Mr Mirzatillo Tillabaev, First Deputy Director of NHRC, stated that Uzbekistan has accumulated considerable experience in the implementation of international human rights obligations and emphasized the importance of engagement of civil society in this process. In particular, he stressed that “The authorities will continue to consult with civil society organizations on various actions to be undertaken to effectively implement UPR recommendations”.

Mr Pavlo Byalyk, OHCHR Human Rights Officer, presented UPR recommendations in thematic clusters and outlined their links to SDGs. When discussing further steps for the implementation of recommendations, he emphasised the UN continuous commitment to cooperate with the Government of Uzbekistan and to provide relevant support through projects, programmes and expertise. “We prepared a mapping of the UN support, which shows that more than 180 activities have been already implemented by the UN agencies to support implementation of the UPR recommendations”, he noted.

Ms Rano Saidumarova, UNHCR Senior Protection Officer, discussed with the participants UPR recommendations which concern refugees and asylum-seekers and provided suggestions for actions which would allow for their implementation. In this regard, further work by the National Human Rights Center with other relevant stakeholders on the draft law on refugees is a key priority.

Participants discussed the importance of reviewing the existing NAPs in the human rights area, including those which relate to implementation of the recommendations of the Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures as well as the NAP for the National Human Rights Strategy of Uzbekistan, in order to have a complex and integrated approach to implementation of all international human rights commitments. 

The participants were trained on identifying results for the planned activities, developing indicators to measure the progress in achieving those results as well as on using the National Recommendations Tracking Database.

The workshop was attended by representatives of National Human Rights Center, Committee of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan on Women and Gender Equality, Committee of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan on Democratic Institutions, Supreme Court of Uzbekistan, General Prosecutor's Office, Ombudsman Office, Child's Ombudsman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Preschool and School Education, Ministry of Interior, National Guard, Law-Enforcement Academy, Ministry of Health, Agency for Information and Mass Communications under the Presidential Administration, National Agency for Social Protection, Anti-Corruption Agency, Committee for Religious Affairs, Committee for Family and Women Issues, as well as the National Association of NGOs of Uzbekistan.