This major event, held at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, was jointly organized by the Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for Central Asia, the UN Office in Uzbekistan, the UNDP Regional Center in Istanbul, UNDP in Uzbekistan, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

 

The forum on “Results of 70 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: time challenges and reality” is attended by domestic and foreign experts, representatives of parliamentary and judicial systems, law enforcement agencies, state coordinating bodies for reporting and follow-up, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, international and regional structures. Representatives of Russia, China, India, Iran, Central Asian countries, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and a number of other countries are attending the event.

 

The welcoming message of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to forum participants was read by the Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis Nigmatilla Yuldoshev. A video message of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres was also heard.

 

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, the Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia Gherman noted that the Asian Forum on Human Rights is a logical continuation of international conference on “Central Asia: one past and a common future, cooperation for sustainable development and mutual prosperity” held in Samarkand in November 2017, emphasized the importance of the current event not only for people of the region, but also for the whole Asia.

 

Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Chairman of the Executive Committee – CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly George Tsereteli, Special Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Adam Abdelmoula and others spoke about activities carried out on an international scale and forthcoming challenges in the sphere of human rights protection, and importance of this forum.

 

Participants of the event heard a welcoming message of the Secretary General of Inter-Parliamentary Union Martin Chungong.

 

Within the framework of the Asian Forum, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan.

 

The forum continued its work at “Heritage of Universal Declaration of Human Rights – universality and human rights”, “Human Rights as a basis for achieving Sustainable Development Goals”, “Human rights education: innovations and new appeals” sessions. Representatives of international organizations, experts, heads of national centers for human rights delivered speeches.