The Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan took a significant step forward with the publication of its Strategic Plan for 2024-2028. Approved on 24 January 2024, this multi-year plan outlines a roadmap for promoting and safeguarding human rights across the country.
The plan identifies four high-level priority areas. Three of them are aimed at external activities, and another one involves the internal activities of the Ombudsman’s Office.
- Promoting universal understanding and application of human rights in all spheres of life.
- Protecting human rights and freedoms, especially for vulnerable groups of population.
- Developing and coordinating cooperation and partnerships in the field of human rights.
- Strengthening the capacity and competence of Ombudsman’s Office.
These strategic priorities overlap with the following three cross-cutting priorities:
- Achieving gender equality
- Vulnerable groups, including, but not limited to, persons with disabilities, children and young people, and rural populations;
- Civil society organizations promoting and protecting human rights.
The plan acknowledges the need for increased staffing and resources, potentially including regional offices, to fully implement its ambitious goals.
The Strategic Plan is also expected to be a crucial step aimed at strengthening the technical capacity, efficiency and effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s Office, as the it aims to achieve accreditation by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).
When developing the plan, importance was attached to the national legislation of the country, adopted and successfully implemented programs and plans in various areas of human rights, recommendations of international experts, and the experience of the Ombudsman’s Office over seven years of operation was taken into account.
The text of the “Strategic Plan of the Office of the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan for 2024-2028” can be found here: https://ombudsman.gov.tm/
///nCa, 2 February 2024