SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan

SRSG Natalia Gherman participated in the Asian Forum on Human Rights convened by the Government of Uzbekistan, with the support of the United Nations and other international partners. This event gathered representatives of Governments from Central Asia and the broader region, national human rights institutions, Parliaments, judiciary, law enforcement bodies, civil society, as well as regional and international organizations, on the occasion of the 70^th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Participants to the meeting focused on the principles of universality, interdependence, interrelatedness of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, and reviewed achievements and challenges in the implementation of human rights obligations in the region. They also touched upon the importance of promoting and protecting human rights in their efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting in particular the importance of interactions between Government and civil society institutions in this process. Discussions also focused on new approaches to human rights education as a vector to advance a better understanding and a culture of human rights in the region and beyond.

Addressing the conference on behalf of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, SRSG Natalia Gherman reiterated that all the participants have convened at the forum to reaffirm the commitment to the values and rights contained in the Universal Declaration and in the UN human rights treaties that stemmed from it. She underlined the inextricable links between peace and security, development and human rights, and highlighted UNRCCA’s preventive efforts in this regard in Central Asia. SRSG Gherman welcomed the adoption of Samarkand Declaration of Human Rights as a concrete outcome of the Asian Forum, in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of human rights.

This high level human rights forum took place in the aftermath of the international Conference on Security and Cooperation in Central Asia that took place in November 2017 in Samarkand, the outcome of which continues to shape the regional cooperation agenda in Central Asia.