A delegation from national training institutions from all five states of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) came to the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg for a one-day study visit on 29 June and to participate in the annual HELP Conference held on 30 June-1 July 2022.

The participants expanded their knowledge on the Council of Europe work and the European Court of human rights case law. The study visit focused on the areas of interest expressed by the beneficiaries, including the work of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, the Venice Commission and of the Committee on Artificial intelligence.

Representatives of the Central Asian region to participated in the main gathering of the HELP Network members, representing all 46 member States and beyond. The Conference presented the main developments of the HELP programme at large and provided a platform of exchanges to discuss and share the latest progress in the field of human rights training. In this context, the main achievements of the HELP in Central Asia Action were presented by the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme team, together with representatives of the Academy of the Prosecutor’s General of Uzbekistan and the Human Rights Commission under the President of Kazakhstan.

All participants have expressed a genuine interest in Council of Europe expertise, including in particular HELP courses to be implemented on the national level by national training institutions in all five countries.

The participants represented, among others, the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor’s General Office, and the Bar Association of the respective countries.

The activities were organised in the framework of the action "HELP in Central Asia" within the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023 which is a joint initiative, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.