On the 27^th of May, 2024, an online meeting was held in the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan between the Authorized Representative for Human Rights in Turkmenistan - Ombudsman Yazdursun Gurbannazarova and the Secretariat of the Subcommittee on Accreditation in the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues related to the planned accreditation of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan in the GANHRI, as well as to promote further strengthening of the institutional capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman in accordance with the Paris Principles.

Accreditation to the GANHRI is one of the priority goals of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan, which is achieved through close cooperation with a number of international partners, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Issues of bilateral cooperation with this UN structure were discussed at the meeting of the Authorized Representative for Human Rights in Turkmenistan Yazdursun Gurbannazarova and the Regional Representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central Asia, Matilda Bogner, held on the 28^th of May, 2024.

As noted during the conversation, within the framework of cooperation with OHCHR in Central Asia, various activities were carried out to strengthen the capacity of the Ombudsman’s Office and to raise public awareness of human rights issues. In this regard, OHCHR Regional Representative Matilda Bogner emphasized the importance of further strengthening bilateral cooperation with the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan in areas such as the protection and promotion of human rights, assistance in strengthening the capacity of the Ombudsman’s Office as a key condition for the planned accreditation in the GANHRI.

The Strategic Plan of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan for 2024-2028 notes that the Office is accredited by the Subcommittee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and sets the task to prepare and submit an application to the GANHRI for accreditation of the Office with the support of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (ATF), structural UN entities and other partners.