Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 23 October 2023, the opening of the international forum on the topic "Youth rights: opportunities and protection mechanisms" in Tashkent began in an unconventional way – with a spiritual and artistic performance. Talented young people performed "Ode to Man" by the Hero of Uzbekistan, People's Poet Erkin Vahidov in Uzbek, English and Russian languages, press service of the National Human Rights Center of Republic of Uzbekistan said.

This international conference is held on the eve of 24 October, the historic date declared by the world community as the United Nations Day. The Central Asian Youth Forum is being held as part of the "Program of Events Dedicated to the 75th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights" approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 12 May 2023.

Akmal Saidov, First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Director of the National Human Rights Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan, while opening the international forum, highlighted the following criteria that show the unique features, relevance and importance of this world conference:

first, the Central Asian Youth Forum is being held within the framework of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 30th anniversary of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights;

secondly, this Forum symbolizes solidarity and cooperation in ensuring youth rights in the Central Asian region, where nearly half of the population is young;

thirdly, the Forum is being held within the framework of the implementation of the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the establishment of a Working Group to assist the development of the youth of Central Asia at the United Nations at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly;

fourthly, more than 500 young people of the countries of our region, including members of the youth parliament, leaders of youth organizations and active modern people, as well as students of higher education institutions in all regions of the country, are participating in this international conference, which is being held online and offline in a unique way in terms of form and content;

fifth, the outcomes of the forum's youth consultations will be useful in developing the draft "Human Rights – 75" youth declaration, which will be presented at a high-level event in Geneva in December 2023.

The participants of the Central Asian Youth Forum were also congratulated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, and the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Matteo Macacchi, through a video message.

Оn behalf of the UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan – UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan v.b. Geoffrey Ijumba, Special Representative for Youth Affairs of the current Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Memet Jaku, welcomed the speech.

The speakers expressed confidence that the Central Asian Youth Forum will become a convenient information-enlightenment and practical discussion-discussion space for its participants to acquire the necessary knowledge on the mechanisms of ensuring and protecting the rights and opportunities of young people, exchange mutual experience, and implement current ideas and projects. During the work of the international conference, attention was drawn to the importance of live dialogues between politicians and public figures, representatives of scientific and academic circles and entrepreneurs, representatives of Uzbekistan and the world's youth.

After that, the world conference continued its work in three plenary sessions.

National and foreign experts, leaders of youth organizations of Central Asian countries, youth parliaments, national human rights institutions, civil society institutions, mass media, as well as representatives of international and regional organizations on youth rights - more than 800 participants are taking part in the forum.

The main national organizer of the international forum is the National Human Rights Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This prestigious conference is held in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth Policy and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Youth Affairs Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Youth Union and the World Association of Youth of Uzbekistan. Also, all youth organizations in our country are actively involved in the international forum.

The forum was organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the regional department of the Office of the High Commissioner for Central Asia, the Office of the Permanent Coordinator of the United Nations in Uzbekistan, the representative office of the United Nations Development Program in our country, the OSCE Bureau for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Coordinator of OSCE Projects in Uzbekistan, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. work was carried out in close cooperation with international partners such as