A significant part of the Forum’s international agenda featured an address by Sergey Lebedev, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). He highlighted the symbolic importance of holding the Forum during the 60th anniversary of the International Covenants on Human Rights and the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, as well as the 30th anniversary of the National Human Rights Centre of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Discussing the Forum's significance for regional cooperation, Sergey Lebedev noted that the Samarkand Forum represents a practical continuation of the multilateral partnership among CIS states and serves as a platform for consolidating efforts to protect human rights, realize the right to development, and respond to modern challenges.
"The Samarkand Forum serves as a practical continuation of this multilateral partnership. By bringing together international and regional experience, it acts as an authoritative platform for consolidating efforts to protect individual rights, realize the right to development, and effectively respond to modern challenges, while placing the interests of every citizen as an absolute priority."
Sergey Lebedev also specifically highlighted the role of the CIS Human Rights Commission — which involves representatives from the national human rights institutions of Commonwealth states—as well as the importance of the CIS Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of May 26, 1995, as the legal foundation for regional cooperation.
Press Service of the National Center of the
Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights