On 3 October this year, a group of experts from the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Research (BISR) had a meeting in the office of the Yuksalish National Movement to get acquainted with the main spheres of the organizations' activities and to identify promising areas for cooperation.
Bobur Bekmurodov, Executive Director of the "Yuxalish" National Movement, acquainted the BISR representatives with the Movement's mission, tasks and activities. In particular, he spoke about the interaction of Yuxalish National Movement with the government agencies, civil society institutions, international organizations, as well as about strands of work on the Concept of Civil Society Development in Uzbekistan, interaction with public councils under government agencies and facilitation of their development.
BISR experts expressed interest in the mechanisms for involving civil society institutions and NGOs in decision-making processes, public participation in monitoring the implementation of reforms, support for newly established NGOs, etc. These include the practice of involving the citizens who have joined the Movement, to participate as observers at the Uzbekistan's Parliament hearings, online platform "Jamoatchilik.uz".
Tatiana Shendik, BISR Deputy Director, inquired about the extent to which the Yuxalish National Movement is actively developing interaction with international organizations and think tanks. Guests were informed that Yuxalish National Movement has recently become a member of the CIVICUS global alliance, which monitors the level of democracy and civil society development in countries worldwide. It is noteworthy that Yuxalish National Movement became the first public organization in Uzbekistan to join this global alliance.
Representatives of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Research expressed their readiness to develop cooperation with the National Movement in priority areas, in particular, to exchange best practices in developing a draft law on volunteer activities. The possibility of signing a memorandum of cooperation between the two organisations is now being studied.