Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 10 June 2020, the Parliament of Uzbekistan held a joint parliamentary forum in the form of a videoconference with the international organization of parliamentarians of the world - the Inter-Parliamentary Union. This was reported by the press service of the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

It is symbolic that the forum was held on the eve of the International Day of Parliamentarism and was devoted to the theme “The role of parliaments in implementing the recommendations of the UN charter and treaty bodies: the example of the UN Human Rights Council and the Human Rights Committee”.

The organization of the online conference was also attended by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Permanent Mission in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan (NCHR).

In particular, during the preparation of the NCHR, in response to his appeal, he received a letter from Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, about the possibility of participation in this parliamentary forum of the Director of the Universal Periodic Review Department of the OHCHR, J. Magazzeni. As a result, he made a presentation entitled “Mechanisms to increase the effectiveness of further actions to implement the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights”.

We also note that Michelle Bachelet expressed gratitude to the Director of the NCHR Akmal Saidov “for regularly informing about the development of human rights in the Republic of Uzbekistan. This latest information is welcome and duly taken into account.” It was noted that OHCHR specialists will be happy to provide assistance to the National Center for Human Rights in implementing the National Database for tracking recommendations from the UN, as well as building the capacity of NCHR staff.

The implementation of the provisions of international documents in the legislation of Uzbekistan, including in the field of human rights, gives the country the necessary conditions for the dynamic advancement in the community of the most developed countries of the world. In this regard, the constant work on studying the international regulatory framework to which Uzbekistan has joined, developing plans to translate the world's best practices into daily practice of the country, reporting on their implementation and analyzing recommendations from world institutions are one of the primary tasks of the parliament and national institutions such as the NCHR.

Therefore, the participants in the parliamentary forum actively used the opportunities of the online format to discuss these issues together with the leadership and specialists of such an authoritative organization as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which embodied the experience of parliaments of the world.

The parliamentary forum was attended by IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Gianni Magazenni, leaders and members of both houses of the Parliament of Uzbekistan, representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, ODIHR / OSCE and other international organizations, the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan, domestic and foreign experts.

As noted by the Chairperson of the upper house of parliament Tanzila Narbaeva, in accordance with the recommendations of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a parliamentary commission on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was created in the structure of the Oliy Majlis. As part of the Universal Periodic Review, the Commission on Gender Equality started its work, the Committee on Gender Equality and the National Commission on Combating Trafficking in Persons and Forced Labor were formed in the Senate. The reports of the Oliy Majlis Commissioner for Human Rights, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are heard annually.

Uzbekistan, developing national parliamentary traditions, actively uses the best international experience, Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis Nurdinjon Ismailov said at the forum.

According to Akmal Saidov, First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber, Director of the NCHR, the Parliament of Uzbekistan takes an active part in the activities of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and other international forums of parliamentarians. Uzbekistan supports the initiative of the IPU and OHCHR in adopting the “Principles of Parliament and Human Rights” to include provisions on the role of national parliaments and the IPU in modern international relations in the Declaration on the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.

The forum has become a new opportunity for the development of inter-parliamentary dialogue on human rights, sustainable development and cooperation.