The Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on human rights and the Commissioner on Children’s rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the support of UNICEF held on-line conference “Cooperation between countries of Central Asia and Russian Federation on repatriation children and women from the armed conflict zones, and their effective reintegration into society”, reports “Dunyo” IA correspondent.
Building on Uzbekistan’s experience, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Afshan Khan said: “UNICEF is delighted to be facilitating this exchange of good practices and looks forward to continued partnership with all countries represented here today as we work together to fulfill the rights of children affected by armed conflict”.
Participants of the conference also outlined the areas of mutual concerns and opportunities for the strong partnership and effective cooperation.
«The principles laid down in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child are fundamental to our activities, built on the implementation of special care for children left without parental care who need special protection and security, including adequate legal protection,” said Aliya Yunusova, Commissioner on Children’s rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
On the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan, in May and October 2019 in the framework of the campaigns Mehr-1 and Mehr-2 Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan repatriated women and children who found themselves in the territory of the armed conflict zones in Syria and Iraq. In December 2020 and March 2021 in the framework of the following campaigns Mehr-3 and Mehr-4 another group of women and children returned home from Syria and Afghanistan. Thus, since 2019 Uzbekistan has repatriated over 300 children and over 100 women of its citizens back to the country.
International experts assess experience gained by Uzbekistan as quite effective and is worth sharing with the countries in the region, as well as with the rest of the world.
