During the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on September 20, 2018, the discussion and adoption of the final document regarding the Third National Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review was held in Geneva.

At this session, in addition to Uzbekistan, concluding documents were also discussed and adopted in relation to the reports of 13 states: Turkmenistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Germany, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Cameroon, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Tuvalu, and Djibouti.

During the consideration of the report, the head of the delegation of Uzbekistan, the chairperson of the Committee of the Oliy Majlis, the director of the National Human Rights Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.Saidov in his opening remarks, informed the members and observers of the HRC in detail about systematic and consistent measures being taken in the country in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms in accordance with the Strategy of Actions on the five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2017-2021., as well as the steps taken to widely inform the outcome of the consideration by the UPR Working Group of the third report in May of current year.

The participants of the session were familiarized with the comments of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the Report of the UPR Working Group. Besides, the replies / comments of the Uzbek side were circulated as an official UN document, and also posted on the UNHCR website.

For the debate on the report of Uzbekistan enrolled 20 states. Representatives of China, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Egypt, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia, Venezuela, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Women delivered speech at the meeting. Representatives of 6 states (Algeria, Afghanistan, Belarus, Belgium, Venezuela, Sudan) were not included in the list of speakers on the report of Uzbekistan because of the restrictions of the session's regulations, they submitted  the Secretariat only the texts of their speeches.

Speaking countries in their statements welcomed the large-scale reforms undertaken by Uzbekistan to ensure human rights and freedoms. They highly appreciated the initiatives of the Government and the measures taken by the Government of Uzbekistan to strengthen the legislative and institutional framework for the protection of human rights, the ongoing reforms in the judicial and legal system, the development of civil society institutions, the protection of the rights of women and children, social protection of the population, etc.

Support was expressed for the ongoing reforms in Uzbekistan in the political, economic, social and legal spheres. It was noted that the policy of Uzbekistan in the field of human rights is carried out in line with the fundamental principles and norms developed by the UN.

The States also welcomed the fruitful collaboration of Uzbekistan with the HRC and UN treaty bodies, as well as with Special Procedures. Particularly, Uzbekistan's position on the adoption of an absolute majority (93%) of the recommendations of the HRC and on planned measures for their implementation and active participation in the process of Parliament was positively emphasized.

In accordance with the HRC procedure, international NGOs also made statements, in which the dynamics of the ongoing reforms on the democratization of the country was noted, as well a number of recommendations were proposed for further improvement of the republic's human rights system.

At the end of the time allocated  to Uzbekistan, in accordance with the regulations, the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council in terms of consensus approved the final document on the Third National Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review.

During the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on September 20, 2018, the discussion and adoption of the final document regarding the Third National Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review was held in Geneva.