Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 7 July 2021, a meeting of the delegation of Uzbekistan headed by the First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, Director of the National Center for Human Rights Akmal Saidov with the UN Deputy Secretary General, Deputy UN High Commissioner for refugee Gillian Triggs.

During the meeting, the priority areas of cooperation between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the UN Office for Refugees were discussed.

The meeting participants noted that relations between Uzbekistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had risen to a qualitatively new level, which is characterized by special trust and genuine partnership.

Over the past year, interaction with the UNHCR has been intensified, in particular, the Joint Work Plan between the National Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for 2021 has been developed and is being successfully implemented. Within the framework of this document, seminars and trainings were held at the national and regional levels, modules for teachers were developed on the introduction of international regulatory practice in matters of statelessness and refugees into national law enforcement practice. 

During the meeting, Jillian Triggs noted the progress of Uzbekistan in reducing statelessness, achieved under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

She also confirmed the readiness of the UN Refugee Office to provide practical assistance to Tashkent in resolving statelessness issues, in particular, by ratifying the 1961 UN Convention of the same name.

Following the meeting, the parties reached an agreement on the implementation of joint activities on a wide range of issues of mutual interest.