Good afternoon, dear participants of the conference!

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to our close neighbours - brotherly Kazakhstan, represented by Dinare Bolatovna Zakieva, for the invitation to participate in this important international event and to welcome all commissioners of the CIS countries engaged in a noble mission - the mission of protecting the interests of children!

Dear colleagues, taking the opportunity to participate in such a unique international platform of experience exchange, I would like to briefly acquaint you with Uzbekistan's national practice in the sphere of protecting children's rights.

Undoubtedly, every democratic State has an obligation, enshrined in international law, to guarantee in all actions concerning children the priority of the best interests ofthe child.

All international human rights instruments apply to children as much as to adults. In particular, international instruments relating to the rights of the child clearly establish that the State has a positive obligation to take effective measures to protect the interests of the child.

Historically, the first international instrument signed by Uzbekistan (1992) since its independence was the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Uzbekistan, like all other signatory States to the Convention, assumed an international obligation.

In view of this commitment and the priority of the new constitutional guarantees, safeguarding the best interests of the child has been identified as one of the key areas of Uzbekistan's State policy.

Thus, in accordance with the new version of the Constitution, the State assumes an important socialobligation.

In particular, it is the duty of the State to safeguard and protect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of children and to create the best possible conditions for their full physical, mental and cultural development.

It should be noted that in recent years Uzbekistan, in addition to the constitutional consolidation of the State's position on the protection of children's rights, has carried out comprehensive work to improve the legislative framework and law enforcement practice. This process is still under way.

In particular, national legislation now contains more than 40 legislative acts and more than 500 by-laws relating to the rights of the child.

Fundamentally new approaches and methods have been introduced in this area.

Most importantly, significant work is being done not only to establish an effective legal mechanism, but also to create a completely new mindset in society and new social norms regarding guarantees of the rights of the child and his or her value in society.

At the same time, according to the new constitutional norm, national human rights institutions supplement the existing forms and means of protecting human rights and freedoms.

The Oliy Majlis Commissioner for Children's Rights, the Children's Ombudsman, is such a national institution .

The OliyMajlisCommissioner for Children's Rights (Children's Ombudsman) Act was recently adopted with a view to regulating by law the activities of the Children's Ombudsmanand the effectiveness of this political institution.

Thus, the law establishes the effective powers of the Children's Ombudsman. Henceforth, the Ombudsman may:

- issue warnings and make representations to officials on the prevention of violations of legislation on the rights of the child;

- Make proposals and participate directly in meetings of the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Constitutional Court and the plenum of the Supreme Court;

- To study measures to prevent torture, violence or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of children;

- Monitor the conditions of detention of minors in custody and meet with them to familiarise themselves with the material;

At the same time, the children's ombudsman, in carrying out his function , co-operates effectively with the bodies of enquiry and preliminary investigation, the procurator's office and the court through the following powers:

        - The bodies of enquiry, preliminary investigation and the courts notify the Children's Ombudsman in writing of decisions, sentences (rulings) adopted on offences against the life, health and sexual inviolability of minors;

 - The Children's Ombudsman participates in court proceedings for the protection and restoration of violated rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of children;

        - Has the right to familiarise himself or herself with the materials of any criminal case in which a minor is involved;

 - Also has the right to examine sentences and to apply to the Procurator's Office to protest against them in the interests of the child.

All these instruments are aimed at strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the protection of the interests of the child in Uzbekistan.

Turning from institutional reform in this area to its content, it is important to note that the protection of the rights of the child runs through the entire fabric of Uzbek State policy.

As a result of this special approach, over the past few years in Uzbekistan:

- the  enrolment of the country's  children in preschool education has increased from 27 per cent to 76 per cent;

- a significant reduction in perinatal (1.3 times) and child mortality rates (by 12 per cent over five years);

   - and, of course, the complete eradication of child labour in the republic, based on an independent in-depth analysis of the situation in our country, a fact that has received wide international recognition.

Thus, in the Global Child Well-Being Index , Uzbekistan rose 16 positions in 2021, and this positive trend is steadily continuing.

 At the same time, the focus of attention in the area of ensuring the rights of the child today is on new important tasks that require consistent and systematic implementation.

   In particular, ensuring the social and personal rights of the child - his right to quality and continuous education, as well as the right of the child to grow and develop in conditions safe for his life, physical and mental health.

As a result of this special approach, over the past few years in Uzbekistan:

- the  enrolment of the country's  children in preschool education has increased from 27 per cent to 76 per cent;

- a significant reduction in perinatal (1.3 times) and child mortality rates (by 12 per cent over five years);

   - and, of course, the complete eradication of child labour in the republic, based on an independent in-depth analysis of the situation in our country, a fact that has received wide international recognition.

Thus, in the Global Child Well-Being Index , Uzbekistan rose 16 positions in 2021, and this positive trend is steadily continuing.

At the same time, the focus of attention in the area of ensuring the rights of the child today is on new important tasks that require consistent and systematic implementation.

   In particular, ensuring the social and personal rights of the child - his right to quality and continuous education, as well as the right of the child to grow and develop in conditions safe for his life, physical and mental health.

I will focus only on some of the recommendations enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, recommendations on which Uzbekistan is systematically fulfilling its obligations. 

1. Protection of children from all forms of violence.

Under article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the State must take all necessary legislative, administrative and social measures to protect children from all forms of violence, insult or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment.

Uzbekistan is doing a tremendous amount of work to counter violence against children.

In particular, the adoption on 16 April 2023 of the Act on improving the system for the reliable protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of women and children was a genuine historic event and brought to a completely new level the approaches to the protection of children's rights.

It should be noted that the Act criminalised domestic violence and established appropriate measures of administrative and criminal liability.

- In particular, domestic violence committed against a minor is punishable by deprivation of liberty for 7 to 10 years.

Penalties for all forms of sexual offences against minors have also been increased.

- Engaging in sexual intercourse with a person under 18 years of age is now punishable by imprisonment from 10 to 15 years, and in the case of a child under 14 years of age, the penalty is imprisonment from 15 to 20 years.

- In such offences, the fact that the perpetrators are persons engaged in the upbringing, education or care of a minor is an aggravating circumstance, as the person abuses unhindered access to the child and his or her trust. Henceforth, such persons will be punished by imprisonment from 10 to 15 years.

And a very important aspect - it is established by law that humane acts in the form of early conditional release from punishment or replacement of punishment with a more lenient one cannot be applied to persons who have committed sexual violence against minors.

Thus, sentences for such offences must be served fully and continuously.

At the same time, it is also prohibited for perpetrators of sexual violence against minors to engage in activities involving the upbringing, education of children and direct work with children.

It is important to note that the register of perpetrators of sexualised offences against children has been operational since October 2023. According to the Common Integrated Framework, such persons will henceforth not be able to have access to any of the country's educational, sporting or other children's institutions.

A draft law on the protection of children from all forms of violence has also been publicly discussed and submitted to the Parliament. The adoption of the law is very important, why?

Firstly. It is this law that defines almost all forms of violence against a child - not only the violence we are used to hearing about (physical, psychological, sexual), but also bullying, discrimination, neglect, deprivation of basic needs, neglect, exploitation(sexual, forced into hazardous labour, marriage, anti-social behaviour, begging, religious education or religious position).

Secondly. The law clearly regulates the activities of authorised bodies in the field of protecting children from all forms of violence: powers, algorithms of work and interaction.

Third. General and individual measures to prevent violence against children:

- Issuance of a protection order;

- removal of the child from the family,

- provision of special measures for the protection of children;

- restricting the rights of persons who have been violent towards children, etc.

Fourth. A series of measures to prevent violence against children in educational institutions.

2. The right of a child with special needs to a full life.

Article 23 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees that a mentally or physically disabled child has the right to a full and decent life in conditions that ensure his or her dignity, promote self-confidence and facilitate his or her active participation in society.

A direct implementation of this requirement of the Convention should be considered a new constitutional norm, according to which inclusive education and upbringing are provided for children with special educational needs in educational organisations.

It is in view of this state obligation that children with special needs should be provided with all the necessary conditions for a full life, so that they are not left alone with their problems, but grow and develop as equal members of society. In particular, education should be organised in such a way that children do not learn in isolation, but rather in a shared, child-friendly environment.

According to this approach, to date, in the first stage, the educational programmes of 112 schools and 74 preschool institutions are undergoing transformation to adapt to inclusive education.

4. Article 9 of the Convention guarantees every child the right to live and grow up with his or her family, unless this is contrary to the best interests of the child.

In connection with this guarantee of children's rights, Uzbekistan has introduced alternative non-institutionalised forms of care for children without parental care.

The aim of deinstitutionalisation is to ensure the right of every child to live in a safe and nurturing family environment by reducing the dependence of the child care system on institutional care and moving towards community-based work with children and their families.

Deinstitutionalisation is an important recommendation of a number of international organisations, mainly UNICEF, and today we continue to work in this direction.

Thus, since 2021, Uzbekistan has been transforming the system of care for children left without parental care, and this process has been organised in a gradual and coherent manner.

It is important to note that in introducing this new mechanism, special specifics have been taken into account and the following steps have been taken:

- mapping of institutionalised children in order to obtain complete statistics on the children initially placed in institutions, as well as on their families, relatives and loved ones.

-  Further, information on the costs of care and maintenance of each child is collected in the residential institutions.

- At the next stage, the situation is assessed on the basis of the monitoring data. Particular attention is paid to the situation with regard to the provision of social services to families in difficult life situations and to children with disabilities.

Thus, in the course of the deinstitutionalisation of the system of care for children's institutions, Uzbekistan has so far:

- 23 children's institutions have been closed - 14 children's homes, 4 children's towns and 5 children's homes.

- There are now only two children's homes in operation in the country, accommodating 147 children. (Children's home for children with special needs - 98)

- 3 SOS - children's villages - 164 children.

As an alternative form of guardianship, 130 family children's homes are now functioning across the country, where 681 children are being brought up.

This is a very significant result in providing children deprived of parental care with conditions closest to a family environment.

In general, it is important to note that the efforts and actions undertaken in Uzbekistan today in this direction cover practically the entire spectrum of children's interests - their personal, social, cultural and other rights and freedoms.

Dear colleagues and participants of today's conference!

Due to the time constraints of the event, I have endeavoured to dwell only on some aspects of Uzbekistan's experience in ensuring the best interests of the child.

Thank you once again for the invitation to participate in this important event. I am confident that in the near future the Children's Ombudsman Institute of Uzbekistan will officially join this international platform - the dialogue of CIS countries' representatives.

Since our common and main task is to ensure that every child, every small citizen of our countries has the opportunity to effectively and equally enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed to him/her!

And for this purpose, we need to establish mutual constructive and sustainable co-operation, exchange experience and develop together!

Thank you very much for your attention!