Baku hosted the international symposium “Strengthening Rule of Law: The Role of Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Institutions”.

Heads of national human rights institutions from more than 20 countries, representatives of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), the OIC Ombudsman Association and other international organizations attended the event, organized by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan and several organizations.

The Ombudsman of Uzbekistan, Feruza Eshmatova, informed about the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan aimed at ensuring human rights and noted that the renewed Constitution has strengthened the legal foundations for ensuring honor and dignity, human rights, and freedoms. The Law “On the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Ombudsman)”, adopted in 2024, has been in line with new constitutional norms.

The “Ombudsman School” and “Ombudsman Hours”, which provide legal assistance to the public, as well as the “Ombudsman Quiz” organized for children with disabilities and residents of Mercy Homes, attracted significant interest among event participants.

The Ombudsmen exchanged experiences at the event. Special attention was paid to discussing modern mechanisms for ensuring human rights, including protecting human rights in the era of digitalization and artificial intelligence, and providing legal assistance to people affected by conflicts.

Ms. Eshmatova held bilateral meetings with Ombudsmen from several countries and discussed issues of experience exchange and further development of cooperation in human rights.

Norgul Abduraimova, UzA