TASHKENT, March 2. /“Dunyo” IA/. The Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Vladimir Norov, stressed the exceptional importance of the initiatives put forward by the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, to solve the urgent problems of our time in the field of ensuring the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of every person, are now of exceptional importance for the world community, including the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where almost half of the world's population lives.
Thus, in his opening address to this session of the UN Human Rights Council, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities, and has created new human rights challenges.
At the same time, he emphasized that the pandemic hit women, minorities, people with disabilities and young people the most. Extreme poverty has begun to rise in the world.
In this regard, the proposals of the head of Uzbekistan to establish a Regional Council regarding the self-realization of persons with disabilities, to hold a Women Leaders’ Dialogue of Central Asian states and a Regional Women's Business Forum in Uzbekistan, and to organize the World Conference on Youth Rights are as relevant and timely as ever.
At the same time, the statement of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the presentation of the draft Convention on Youth rights at the tenth forum of the UN Economic and Social Council deserves special attention and full support.
Because, young people, who in conditions of self-isolation have suffered greatly from the current crisis in terms of mental and physical health, professional development and employment, have become very vulnerable to involvement by various terrorist and extremist organizations in their destructive, criminal activities.
That is why the heads of SCO member states at the Moscow summit last November expressed their support for the Uzbek president's initiative to prepare a draft UN Convention on the Rights of Youth and expressed their intention to work in a coordinated manner on this issue.
The importance of this initiative lies in the fact that the adoption of this Convention will be a timely and effective response to the challenges and opportunities facing states and the global community as a whole in strengthening the guarantees of rights, freedoms and support for the interests of youth, the harmonious development and realization of their great potential in order to ensure sustainable development, well-being, peace and stability in our countries, to overcome the negative effects of the pandemic.
As SCO Secretary General, I would like to emphasize that the Secretariat of our Organization is ready to take the most active part in implementing the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
