The Economic Cooperation Organization is an international regional organization for economic, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation of the participating countries. This prestigious regional association was established in 1985 and its main goal is to develop cooperation between countries in such priority areas as trade, investment, innovation, transport, communications, energy, agriculture and industry.

Today, the Organization for Economic Cooperation includes 10 member states - Uzbekistan, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.

The essence of the meeting is the exchange of regional experience in the field of combating corruption between the member states, the development and implementation of a single mechanism of anti-corruption policy between the states. One of the goals and objectives of the meeting was to improve the qualifications of employees, develop additional proposals in the system.

At the event, the heads of anti-corruption agencies and ombudsmen of the participating countries informed about the ongoing reforms, laws and decisions, the role of ombudsmen in the fight against corruption, guarantees of protecting human rights and freedoms in this process.

It should be noted that the fight against corruption is one of the priorities of the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights (Ombudsman). In this regard, the Authorized Person for Human Rights exercises parliamentary control over the observance of the law on human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests by state bodies and organizations and their officials, and also takes measures to eliminate corruption that restricts the rights and freedoms of citizens by considering their appeals.

In particular, proposals are submitted to the heads of state bodies and other organizations to eliminate the causes and conditions of corruption, which must be considered in a timely manner, appeals are made to the appropriate body to prosecute persons who have abused their official position, to file a claim in court for the restoration of human rights without paying state duties.

Also, in order to promptly respond to such complaints, cooperation with the General Prosecutor's Office and the Anti-Corruption Agency is being carried out.

The Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Feruza Eshmatova:

Corruption is a dangerous factor that has a serious negative impact on the development of any state and society, a complex socio-political, economic phenomenon that threatens all countries. Because of this factor, the development of the state slows down, and democratic institutions are undermined. This seriously undermines the rule of law. At the same time, under its influence, citizens lose confidence in social justice, truth and government. Fighting this crime is one of the most pressing problems for any society.

A sharp and uncompromising fight against corruption in our country is one of the priorities of the state policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

In this sense, the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis considers the fight against corruption one of his priorities in ensuring human rights and freedoms in society.

In particular, the Authorized Person for Human Rights exercises parliamentary control over the observance of the law on human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests by state bodies and organizations and their officials, and also takes measures to eradicate corruption that restricts the rights and freedoms of citizens by considering their appeals.

If, when considering a complaint by the Ombudsman, the fact that a person has abused his position for personal gain is revealed, he certainly has the right to apply to the relevant authorities with a request to bring the person to justice.

He also makes mandatory submissions to the heads of state bodies and other organizations on the elimination of the revealed violations of legislation in the field of human rights and freedoms, the reasons and conditions that allow them.

In conclusion, I can say that during today's regional dialogue we received a lot of information and proposals on combating corruption, exchanged experiences and further strengthened our partnership.

The next part of the conference was devoted to the organization of the Regional Center. It was noted that the center will be located in the city of Tehran of Iran, and will coordinate the interaction of the heads of anti-corruption agencies and ombudsmen of the ECO member states. The Regional Center assists states in organizational matters related to the anti-corruption system. The center will create a mechanism for the exchange of international experience and knowledge in this area, hold important political events and conferences. It should be noted that the creation of such a Regional Center is of great political importance for each member state.

During the meeting, the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Feruza Eshmatova met with the Chief Ombudsman of the Turkish Parliament Sheref Malkoch and the Authorized Person for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sabina Aliyeva and agreed to strengthen bilateral relations. 

Taking into account the important role of the conference in anti-corruption policy, the participants emphasized that the initiatives taken, the adopted documents are of practical importance for each state. Since corruption is a serious obstacle to economic development, partner countries have focused on the widespread introduction of digital technologies and e-commerce in the development of trade and investment relations.

As a result of the event, proposals were developed for further expanding regional cooperation in the implementation of anti-corruption policies between the countries, which were reflected in the Tashkent Declaration adopted by the participants. It includes ways and means to support cooperation between ECO member states in the fight against corruption; organization of meetings, agreements and discussions between representatives of relevant departments of the member states to resolve existing problems and issues; the scale and interdependence of common challenges and opportunities at the regional and global levels; issues of overcoming corruption barriers for sustainable socio-economic development of the region; issues of expanding regional cooperation for the joint solution of problems caused by any forms of corruption, which pose a serious threat to the development and well-being of society.

Press Service of the Authorized Person

of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman)