Ashgabat, 22 February 2023: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Regional Office for Central Asia of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (ROCA OHCHR) jointly with the government of Turkmenistan held a methodological workshop to prepare the State delegation for the Dialogue with the UN Human Rights Committee at the Institute of State, Law, and Democracy of Turkmenistan.

The workshop gathered members of the state delegation of Turkmenistan who will participate in the Constructive Dialogue with the UN Human Rights Committee on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Constructive Dialogue of Turkmenistan with the UN Human Rights Committee is scheduled for 1-2 March 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr. Gentian Zyberi, a former member of the UN Human Rights Committee facilitated the technical consultations.

The UN Human Rights Committee is the body of independent experts that monitors the implementation by States Parties of their obligations under the ICCPR. The importance of the upcoming Constructive Dialogue of Turkmenistan with the UN Human Rights Committee is to provide information on progress made on implementation of the concluding recommendations adopted by the UN Human Rights Committee as a result of the Constructive Dialogue with the Government of Turkmenistan held in 2017.

The UN Human Rights Committee for many years has been a key player in shaping global practice in the field of human rights protection. The dialogues of the UN Human Rights Committee with states provide a unique opportunity for constructive dialogue between states parties to the ICCPR and Committee experts on a range of complex topics relating to specific human rights issues in different countries.

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The NHRAP 2021-2025 adopted by the Government in April 2021 aims at strengthening the national system of provision and protection of human rights and liberties in Turkmenistan, implementation of the international obligations of the country in the given area, and the expansion of cooperation with the international organizations in the humanitarian sphere.

UNDP Turkmenistan provides support to the implementation of the NHRAP 2021-2025 in the framework of the project “Assistance in the realization National Action Plan of Turkmenistan in the Area of Human Rights for 2021-2025” jointly implemented with the Institute of State, Law and Democracy of Turkmenistan. The project focuses on strengthening the national system of protection, promotion, and realization of human rights in Turkmenistan by harmonizing laws and practices in accordance with the country's international human rights obligations.

More information on the of the UN Human Rights Committee is available on the sessional webpage of the HRC is available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/ccpr