On June 16, 2023, another open dialogue took place between government bodies and civil society institutions. This round table on the topic “Cooperation between government bodies and civil society institutions in ensuring human rights and freedoms: problems and ways to solve them” was organized jointly with the UNDP Office in Uzbekistan.

The event was attended by representatives of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Committee for Family and Women Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Prosecutor General's Office, the National Center for Human Rights, the Supreme Council of Judges and activists from more than 10 civil society institutions, including the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, the non-governmental organization Madad, the public association Legal Support, the public movement Yuksalish, Development Strategies. Center, the Association of Judges of Uzbekistan and other public organizations and media workers.

The purpose of organizing this round table is to create a common dialogue platform between government bodies and civil society institutions, to hold discussions on issues of concern to the population, and to find solutions to a number of problems along this path.

At the event, it was noted that today civil society institutions, through the exercise of public control, are becoming one of the most important tools for ensuring effective interaction between citizens and the state, determining people's moods, their attitude to the changes taking place in the country.

Over the past period, more than 200 legal documents were adopted aimed at strengthening the role and importance of civil society institutions and solving the most important socio-economic problems of citizens, which also indicates great attention to the development of this area.

Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Feruza Eshmatova emphasized that the Ombudsman Institute has established close cooperation with civil society institutions and that this platform, which has been held for 2 years, is another opportunity to support them and establish an open dialogue with them.

- In our updated Constitution, it is determined that the institution of the ombudsman has the right to make legislative proposals to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan as a legislative initiative. I must say that we are ready to work with civil society institutions in this direction, to study and improve their proposals. In this context, the proposals and recommendations made by civil society institutions within the framework of this event are very important for us.

Matilda Dimovska, Permanent Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Uzbekistan

- Of course, the role of NGOs in ensuring human rights is incomparable and is one of the factors that positively influence the development of the country. To date, many reforms have been implemented in Uzbekistan to support civil society institutions. But, despite this, there are areas that need to be worked on in this area. Today, we are proud to be discussing these issues with the Ombudsman and the public authorities of the judiciary as part of our Finnish government-supported project.

The round table emphasized that ensuring the independence of the judiciary, achieving a fair trial, strengthening the rule of law are important for the reliable protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens.

At the event, the proposals of judges on introducing amendments and additions to the legislation on their activities in the field of administration of justice were studied.

It should be noted that such dialogues serve to inform the competent representatives of state bodies about the existing shortcomings in ensuring human rights and freedoms and through this serve to reform the relevant areas.

At the end of the round table, the participants of the event made a number of proposals aimed at improving the sphere of ensuring human rights, including by further ensuring the transparency of the activities of public authorities and administration in the field of protecting personal, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and increasing the effectiveness of interaction with civil society institutions , further strengthen public control and create equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in legal proceedings, create legislative preferences for minors.

Press Service of the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman)