Asian Forum on Human Rights

President of the Senate,
Professor Saidov,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is an enormous pleasure and privilege to address the Asian Forum on Human Rights.
Let me first of all thank the Government of Uzbekistan, as well as my colleagues from OHCHR, UNDP and the OSCE, for bringing us together today, in the beautiful city of Samarkand.

No name is more evocative of the Silk Road than Samarkand, fixed in popular imagination as the meeting place of poets and philosophers, traders and adventurers, travelling thousands of miles from East and West.

Poets and philosophers like Rumi, who lived here 800 years ago and whose words remain widely popular today. And I think his enduring fame rests not just on the elegance of his prose, but on the timeless truth of his ideas. His conviction in our common humanity; his belief that for all our differences, we are all just, and I quote, “breathing human beings.”

For centuries since, such a view of humanity was often challenged, belittled and disparaged. Instead, another view of the world was usually dominant - a view that saw one people as superior to another; where might makes right; in which the strong always exploit the weak.

Indeed, it ultimately took not one, but two terrible world wars, the last one more atrocious than anything ever witnessed in history, to finally force a re-think.

It started in 1945, in San Francisco. Standing before a world in ruins, the nations of the world came together to find a new way of cooperating and living together; to forge a path that did not invariably lead into the abyss of war
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“We the Peoples”, they declared, and the United Nations was born: the world’s neutral table, around which all countries could come together - rich or poor, big or small, each with one vote.

And with it that vision of humanity finally took hold which sees not just our differences, but our common core: that everyone of us is born free and equal in dignity and rights.

This vision found its most enduring expression in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
No other document in history has been translated into as many languages, and in every one of them it brought inspiration, hope and meaning.

Ever since, it has empowered women and men the world over to march together and demand their right to freedom of speech and belief; to freedom from fear and want; to fair access to justice and economic opportunity.

This change was neither trivial nor abstract. We can measure it in tangible improvements in the reality of our lives. We can measure it in the number of conflicts prevented and disputes resolved by the impartial workings of justice; in societies that have become more open, inclusive, and ultimately more prosperous.

All of this happened over the course of just a few decades. And all that progress is real. It has been broad, and it has been deep, and it all happened in what – by the standards of human history – was nothing more than the blink of an eye.

And now an entire generation has been born and grew up in a world that by most measures and in most places has become steadily healthier and wealthier and less violent and more tolerant during the course of our lifetimes.

It is no accident of history that this was achieved in the decades since the Universal Declaration and the multilateral institutions that support it came into being. There is a direct connection here.

And yet, despite of all this progress, we see everything that underpinned it being challenged today.

̶ We see multilateralism challenged by a nationalist and isolationist politics of fear and resentment.

̶ And we see human rights and the rule of law derided as “nice-to-haves” or simply ignored.
Which is why we once again find ourselves at a crossroads - a point in time in which two very different views compete with each other. How should we respond?

Should we really understand the last decades as nothing more than a detour from the unavoidable cycle of history – where might makes right, and politics is a zero-sum game? Is that what we should think?

I think not. I remain convinced that respect for human rights and the pursuit of multilateral solutions remain the only credible path we can take to successfully address the major challenges we face.
And I remain optimistic. Because not only is the Universal Declaration alive and strong, it has been joined by a powerful ally: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Its 17 Goals are integrated, indivisible and universal and they have one thing in common: they are all anchored in human rights.

At the core of the 2030 Agenda is the prosperity, dignity and well-being of all people, with the promise to leave no one behind.

But if that means anything, it must mean helping the most vulnerable: the victims of injustice, inequality and oppression.

Defending human rights and supporting the 2030 Agenda are one and the same.

̶ Take Goal 5 on gender equality: who would dispute this must start with recognizing and realizing women’s most fundamental freedoms and rights: to study and work; to never face discrimination or violence?

̶ Or consider Goal 8 on economic growth: who can point to a society that has achieved long-term and broad-based prosperity but that is run by corrupt officials and governed by arbitrary laws?

Achieving the 17 Goals is as much everyone’s responsibility as human rights are everyone’s concern. Which is why I am encouraged by the diversity of participants here today: international organisations, national governments, parliaments, as well as civil society.

This is exactly the kind of coalition we need to build.

̶ To keep the promise of the Universal Declaration alive.
̶ To make the 2030 Agenda a reality.
̶ And above all: to ensure future generations live in a world of peace, justice, and dignity for all.

Nothing less is our ambition. The United Nations is ready to play its part. But we can only hope for success with the political support of our Member States.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights demonstrates the vital role that regional actions play in this collective effort. At their best, they can be more tailored to local needs than global agendas, but still retain the strength and power that only multilateral alliances can muster.

Our common challenge is to calibrate our engagement: We need to integrate along the vertical axis from grassroots to the global level. And we need to improve horizontal collaboration across civil society, the private and public sectors.

Central Asia has made encouraging strides towards such integration - to enhance dialogue, foster political partnerships, and reinvigorate economic cooperation. I am confident that today’s Forum will advance this regional momentum - with benefits that will reach beyond Central Asia itself.

Finally, allow me to congratulate Uzbekistan on last months’ adoption of the national Sustainable Development Goals and targets. This represents a ground-breaking step forward in accelerating the 2030 Agenda in Uzbekistan and will catalyse transformations already in train across all five pillars of the national Action Strategy.

And let me also thank you for your early financial support to the reform of the UN development system to become much more field-focused, accountable and impactful. The UN stands ready to provide technical assistance across the spectrum of SDG implementation.

What’s more - and this builds perfectly on everything I outlined before - the national Action Strategy is explicitly grounded in human rights. It is built on the firm ground of universal principles - and thus exactly on the foundation from which we can achieve real, broad, and sustainable gains across the board. And not just for today, but for generations to come.

Thank you. Katta rakhmat.