OSCE Office supports assessment of ten years of human rights education in Tajikistan
DUSHANBE, 10 December 2010 - Review of a decade of human rights education in Tajikistan was the focus of an OSCE-supported conference today.
The conference was organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan in co-operation with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Department of Constitutional Guarantees of the Executive Office of the President of Tajikistan.
Representatives of state structures involved in the implementation of the 2001-2010 state programme on human rights education, including the Justice Ministry, Education Ministry, Labour and Social Protection Ministry, Interior Ministry, the Academy of the Border Service, the Academy of Interior Ministry, and the Civil Service Training Institute, as well as civil society and academia took part in the event. The participants sought to develop preliminary recommendations for the future of formal and informal human rights education in Tajikistan.
The results of an analysis of the state programme conducted by the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman supported by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan were presented in the conference.
Participants noted that while the programme led to many achievements, it was not monitored or evaluated effectively and thus could not respond to new international standards or to incorporate newly-established state agencies as implementers.
"Today's discussion focused mostly on the implementation of the state program by state actors," said Ambassador Ivar Vikki, the Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan. "However, the important contribution of civil society to the promotion and implementation of human rights education initiatives in Tajikistan has been consistently acknowledged."
Zarif Alizoda, the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Tajikistan, highlighted the importance of educating citizens about their rights, noting that "the individual's responsibility for exercising rights is a requirement of contemporary society." He indicated that an amended or new state programme on human rights education is forthcoming.