The members of the working group of the Interagency Commission for Monitoring Human Rights International Commitments of Turkmenistan, the deputies of the Mejlis and the specialists of the ministries and departments of education, healthcare and medical industry, justice, social welfare, culture and TV and radio broadcasting participated in the roundtable in Ashgabat. The representatives of the Council for Religion under President of Turkmenistan, the large public organisations and journalists were invited to the meeting.

An expert of the UN Commission for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, a consultant of the International Commission of Jurists and Inter-Parliamentary Council in Geneva, Deputy Chairman of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Navamani Patna Paten took part in the forum organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the Turkmen National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights under President of Turkmenistan and UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

The forum which turned into the open and friendly discussion was aimed at introducing the methodology of preparing the national reports on the implementation of the international commitments to the UN human rights conventions and submitting to the treaty bodies of this authoritative international organisation to the Turkmen specialists. The best international practice of preparing the national human rights reports, in particular on the implementation by Turkmenistan the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) our country joined in 1996 was presented to the participants.

The participants exchanged views on the broad range of the issues related to the role that women played in modern society and family, the gender problems and shared experience in the activity of the women’s organisations. The key aspects of Turkmenistan’s national policy on women including the national programmes guaranteeing the rights of women to education, health care and social activities were a focus of the roundtable discussion.
Those speaking at the roundtable noted that the international norms on the rights of women were implemented in the national legislation of Turkmenistan. Last December the Mejlis passed the Law of Turkmenistan “On the Guarantees of the Rights of Women” elaborated on the basis of the international norms, conventions and agreements joined by Turkmenistan. The Turkmen labour and family legislation contains the relevant legal norms. The rights, freedoms, duties of the individuals and citizens vested in the Constitution conform to the fundamental provisions of the important international legal documents.

Those speaking emphasized that in the framework of the large-scale legal reform implemented in Turkmenistan under the leadership of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov the national legislation including the Constitution was improved in compliance with the universally recognized norms. The draft Constitution contains the special norms on the guarantees of gender equality.

Speaking at the forum Mrs. Navamani Patna Paten focused on the uniqueness of such an institution as the Interagency Commission for Monitoring Human Rights International Commitments of Turkmenistan for the Central Asian region. The international expert said that it vividly testified to the Government’s serious approach to developing the democratic processes, strengthening the foundations of the jural state, establishing civil society, protecting the rights and freedoms of the individuals and citizens. Mrs. Navamani Patna Paten said that the work of the Commission was of paramount importance to achieve the goals under discussion at the meeting. The international expert presented the international recommendations on the improvement of the national family legislation and the laws on reproductive health.

The participants called for furthering fruitful co-operation in the framework of the Turkmenistan-UN dialogue that was successfully developed nowadays and serve the common aim – the people’s welfare.