The event was organized by the UNESCO Country office in Uzbekistan in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Sport Affairs of Uzbekistan within the project “Promotion of 2005 Convention in Central Asia”, which is implemented by UNESCO Cluster Bureau in Almaty and UNESCO Country Office in Uzbekistan.

An official visit of the UNESCO Secretary-General Irina Bokova in August 2013 lifted bilateral relations between UNESCO and Uzbekistan to new level. Many aspects of the UNESCO operations and perspectives of cooperation between UNESCO and Uzbekistan were considered at the meeting between Ms Bokova and the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov. Special attention was paid to issues of tolerance, cultural diversity and art education. In particular, it was said that Uzbekistan is located at crossroads of civilizations and possesses rich cultural heritage, symbolizing common history and reflecting unique cultural diversity in the region.

To preserve cultural heritage, Uzbekistan ratified main Conventions of UNESCO in culture sphere, including Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Paris, 16 November 1972), Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Paris, 17 October 2003), Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (Paris, 14 November 1970) and Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict with Regulations for the Execution of the Convention (The Hague, 14 May 1954).

Currently, Uzbekistan is considering ratification of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

The Convention was adopted on 20 October 2003 at the 33rd session of the General Conference of UNESCO and it is an international agreement, which encourages painters, professional workers of culture, specialists and citizens of creative profession in the world to spread and use various works of culture, services and other activities in this area.