Dear Botagoz Shaimardanovna, colleagues and round table participants,

Let me welcome everyone on behalf of the Management of the UN Development Programme in Kazakhstan. We are glad to see that today representatives of the civil sector, the academic community, and government bodies have gathered at one table to once again discuss the progress Kazakhstan is making in implementing the recommendations of international institutions in the field of human rights. It is the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), as a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council, that enables comprehensive monitoring of the implementation of all categories of rights, including civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights.

Against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical events and climate change challenges in a global perspective, the human rights situation is deteriorating in many countries around the world, which has been repeatedly mentioned by the heads of various United Nations agencies.

In particular, UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council that “… A record one hundred million people have been forced to flee by violence, conflict and human rights violations. Nearly half of the world’s population, 3.5 billion people, live in climate hotspots. These vast areas are fast becoming human rights disaster zones where floods, droughts and storms mean people are 15 times more likely to die of climate impacts… The misuse of new technologies could threaten human rights on a scale we can’t even imagine."

In this context, we welcome the efforts of the Government of Kazakhstan to take timely measures to protect human rights to mitigate the negative impact of external, man-made, and natural factors, to follow-up the implementation of international conventions adopted by the state in the field of human rights protection, as well as the recommendations of the 3^rd UPR cycle, which demonstrates the state's understanding of global factors and the desire to comply with international standards.

Once again, I would like to note that Kazakhstan has accepted most of the 3^rd UPR cycle recommendations and implemented many of them, including recommendations to ratify the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to improve legislation on the prevention of torture and its effective investigation, combating gender-based violence and human trafficking and a number of other laws ensuring the protection of human rights.

These efforts should be continued considering the opinion of the civil and expert community to bring Kazakhstan's legislation into full compliance with international law. This concerns rights related to freedom of expression, freedom of association, peaceful assembly, religion, the right to a fair trial and a number of other rights identified by members of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review.

In this regard, I would like to note the relevance of the Action Plan on Human Rights and the Rule of Law, signed by the President in December 2023, the objectives of which also coincide with the 3^rd UPR cycle recommendations.

Dear Participants,

Human rights are a cornerstone and a specific indicator in all UNDP development initiatives. To this end, we work with governments, civil society, academia, and the private sector to conduct analysis and develop recommendations for ensuring human rights policies at both the government and corporate levels.

At the global level, UNDP is committed to supporting Member States in further integrating human rights systems and the Sustainable Development Goals in 75 countries, including Kazakhstan, through:

• Integrating human rights systems and Sustainable Development Goals to enhance technical cooperation, complementarity and effectiveness between human rights systems and the SDGs at the national level

• Supporting Member States in exercising the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment (“R2HE”) in 100 countries

Taking into account our past and ongoing projects with the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, ministries and departments of the Republic of Kazakhstan, UNDP is ready to continue joint efforts and provide our international expertise for the further implementation of the UPR recommendations directly corresponding to the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by Kazakhstan.

Thank you for your attention, I wish you an interesting and productive discussion.