Ombudsman Workshop

On February 27, 28, 2012, at Tashkent Palace Hotel, Regional Dialogue  in cooperation with           Mrs. Sayora Rashidova - Ombudsman of Uzbekistan,  conducted a training workshop  for Ombudsman's representatives from 4 Uzbek regions and the inter-agency working group. More than 60 participants attended  the workshop on both days, actively participating  in a very dynamic sharing of experiences with Slovenian Ombudsman Mrs. Zdenka Čebašek Travnik,  Janez Rupar, police human rights expert from Slovenia,  and Ivan Abrams, Regional Country Director of American Bar Association for the Rule of Law program. The activity has been conducted as cost share of Regional Dialogue's  EU funded project »Human Rights Dialogue in Uzbekistan« and US AID.

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Workshop in Samarkand, February 8, 2012

On February 8th, 2012, EU Special Representative for Central Asia Mr. Pierre Morel visited a training workshop for mahalla activists, one of many that Regional Dialogue conducts around Uzbekistan as part of its EU funded project activities within its  project »Human Rights Dialogue in Uzbekistan«.      Mr. Morel engaged in dynamic discussion with workshop participants and shared his views and experiences of Uzbekistan, dating back to mid 70s. The training took place in Samarkand, one of the historic cities of Uzbekistan which is becoming a very popular tourist destination also for many European visitors.

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Happy Women’s Day!

Regional Dialogue team wishes all women happy 8th of March!

RD Director meets with Deputy Foreign Mi...

On January 17th, 2012   Mjusa Sever, Director of Regional Dialogue and Head of RD Uzbek Branch office in Uzbekistan had a meeting with Mr. Vladimir Norov, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the staff of the Foreign Ministry’s European Department.  During the meeting, Sever had a chance to present main activities of Regional Dialogue conducted in Uzbekistan with the support of the European Union. Foreign Ministry assured their assistance to the upcoming activities, especially those focusing on the rights of women and the role of families in protection of children’s rights. Different aspects of specific Uzbek cultural traditions that have developed throughout its historic experiences shaping Uzbek national identity have also been discussed since one of the main dimensions of the work of Regional Dialogue in Uzbekistan is also devoted to working with mahallas, local neighborhoods. There are about 10.000 mahallas in Uzbekistan, and they represent the most grassroots community structure. Mahallas enjoy certain level of self-governing and represent the most basic level of civil society in Uzbekistan. Deputy Foreign Minister Norov and Director of Regional Dialogue Sever also shared views about situation in the region and the role of Uzbekistan as regional actor.

A meeting with Ombudsman of the Republic...

On January 18, 2012, Regional Dialogue staff had a meeting with Sayora Rashidova, Ombudsman of the Republic of Uzbekistan and her staff. Ombudsman Rashidova briefed Regional Dialogue about Ombudsman’s work, with special focus on the concept of ombudsman’s office to strengthen the activities in the regions through local representatives of the ombudsman’s office actively engaging with inter-agency working groups in local environments addressing concrete complaints or human rights cases reported to ombudsman. Regional Dialogue offered cooperation to Ombudsman’s office in human rights awareness building seminars that would be implemented around the country. Cooperation will also focus on sharing European experiences in the area of children’s and women’s rights and the rights of vulnerable members of society, since this year has been declared the Year of Family in Uzbekistan.

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Civil Society and Dialogue with the Gove...

RD is engaging the Uzbek civil society and government in a constructive dialogue in order to enhance the process of democratization and to strengthen civil society, this also being the current policy priority of the Uzbek government. [nggallery id=4]