Ashgabat, 1 October 2021: The Ombudsperson`s Office (OO) participated in a two-day online workshop entitled “Roadmap for accreditation to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI)” with the support of the UNDP in Turkmenistan. The workshop was conducted by Professor Alan Miller, former special envoy of GANHRI.  

During the workshop, Prof. Miller presented the specifics of GANHRI accreditation process and outlined the timeline and necessary procedural steps for the OO, identifying and offering guidance on key substantive issues for preparation of the application, e.g., founding legislation, Annual Report of OO, complaints-handling, and engagement with the UN human rights system and with civil society organizations.

GANHRI was established in 1993 as the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (ICC). It has been known as the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) since 2016 and is a member-based network organization that gathers National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from all around the world. As of 2021, GANHRI is composed of 118 members: 86 “A” status NHRIs and 32 “B” status NHRIs. In a unique peer-review-based accreditation process, GANHRI ensures individual NHRIs’ compliance with internationally recognized standards – the Paris Principles – to ensure their independence, pluralism, and accountability.

“I would especially like to note NHRI`s role as an independent body with the constitutional mandate to protect and promote human rights by assisting individuals (through complaints handling or legal assistance); monitoring the human rights situation on the ground; advising government and parliament on compliance with international human rights norms; reporting to international human rights mechanisms; and promoting a culture of rights, through human rights education and awareness-raising. As such, NHRIs act as a bridge between civil society and the state, and between the national and international arenas.”- said Rovshen Nurmuhammedov, UNDP Assistant Representative in Turkmenistan outlining the objectives of the seminars.

On 2 October, the second day of the workshop the Ombudsperson`s Office will discuss the relevance of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the work of OO where an international expert will outline why and how OO engagement with the UPR/SDGs can enable its progress towards accreditation. This session will sum up the two-day workshop discussions and identify the steps for the OO to take to progress its application for GANHRI.

This important initiative is supported by the financial contribution of the Government of Finland and the Government of Canada.

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The activities are organized in the framework of the project: "Strengthening the institutional capacity of the Ombudsperson’s Office of Turkmenistan" implemented jointly by the UNDP in Turkmenistan and the Office of Ombudsperson in Turkmenistan.

The Project aims to improve the system of protection, promotion, and implementation of human rights in Turkmenistan by reforming national legislation in accordance with the human rights international obligations of Turkmenistan and increasing the institutional capacity of the Ombudsperson’s Office.