On May 4, 2018 the Parliament of the Republic of Uzbekistan approved the «Roadmap» on «Ensuring Freedom of Religion or Belief», which was developed taking into consideration of the conclusions and recommendations made by Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, following his visit to Uzbekistan in October 2017.

This comprehensive plan includes 52 measures, 40 of which were already implemented in 2018. This year, active work is underway on the remaining 12 measures of the document.

On January 15, 2019 an extended meeting of the Working Group on monitoring the implementation of the «Roadmap» took place with the participation of representatives of civil society, religious organizations, the media and the diplomatic corps, accredited in Uzbekistan, which summed up the interim results of its implementation.

In particular, in 2018:

1) On June 30, the Law «On Countering Extremism» was adopted;

2) On May 31, the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan with its Decree approved the Regulation on the procedure for registration, re-registration and termination of activities of religious organizations;

3) A draft Law «On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations» has been developed in a new edition, which is scheduled to be posted on the Single portal of Interactive State Services for Public Discussion;

4) Proposals to the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan in order to improve regulations in the field of manufacturing, import and distribution of religious materials have been developed.

In the framework of the implementation of the recommendations on strengthening the legal status of national human rights institutions:

1) On December 10, 2018 a Presidential Decree «On improving the activities of the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan» was adopted;

2) On March 14, 2019 the Law «On amendments and additions to some legislation in connection with the improvement of mechanisms for the protection of the rights of convicts and persons in custody» was adopted, which is aimed at strengthening the role of the Ombudsman in this field.

Taking into account the proposals of the Special Rapporteur on further optimization and simplification of the procedure for state registration, re-registration and termination of religious organizations:

- the amount of state fee is reduced five times for registration of religious organizations - from 100 to 20 minimum wages for their central authorities and from 50 to 10 - for religious organizations themselves;

- a reporting procedure by religious organizations to the registering authority has been simplified;

– a right of termination of religious organizations is excluded from the authority of the registering organizations with the establishment of a judicial procedure for the termination of their activities.

In 2019, 10 religious organizations were registered, including 2 non-Islamic: Sunbagyn Church and Evangelical Christian Baptist Church.

An important factor in the spiritual and moral renewal of society remains religious education and enlightenment, the establishment of the educational process, the training of imams and religious personnel.

In the 2018-2019 academic years, in the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan, Departments of «Koran and Hadisi Studies», «History of Islam and Source Studies» and «Akida» were established. 100 students enrolled for these religious studies for further training.

In order to improve the moral state of society, as well as to identify the social role of religion, the Center for the Study of Public Opinion «Izhtimoiy Fikr» has conducted sociological researches entitled “Religiousness of the population of Uzbekistan” and “Religious tolerance in Uzbekistan”.

A number of major events organized to increase the legal culture and legal awareness of the population and officials, in particular:

1) A «Round table» on the topic: «Secular state: principles and implementation mechanisms at the present stage and the Uzbek-American workshop «Religious tolerance: the experience of Uzbekistan and the United States» with the participation of Mr. Sam Brownback, US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom;

2) A «Round Table» to discuss the draft law «On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations» in a new edition with the participation of international experts;

3) An International scientific-practical conference: «The role of the family in the religious education of children and youth»;

4) A «Round Table»: «Spiritual and moral rapprochement of peoples and religious teachings»;

5) The Uzbek-American civil forum with the participation of representatives of non-governmental human rights organizations.

A truly historic event in this sphere was the unanimous adoption by the UN General Assembly Resolution «Enlightenment and Religious Tolerance» on December 12, 2018. The initiative on developing this document was put forward by H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in September 2017.

In November 2018 the Asian Human Rights Forum was successfully held in Uzbekistan with the participation of representatives of international organizations and national human rights institutions of Asian countries. Following this event, the Samarkand Declaration on Human Rights was adopted as an official document of the UN General Assembly on January 18, 2019.