The NGO Forum on ADB has no plans to participate in the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in the Uzbek capital city, Tashkent.
The group, which involves 250 Asia-based non-governmental organizations, announced its boycott of the 43rd ADB annual meeting in a news release April 28.
Avilash Roul, executive director of the forum, said the decision to hold the event in Tashkent “is not only non-transparent but also endorsing suppression of human rights and people’s freedom of expression,” citing the government’s poor human rights record.
Parviz Umarov of the Center for Development of Civil Society in Tajikistan said the lack of vibrant civil society groups in Uzbekistan will make it “impossible to hold public opinion” during or at the sidelines of the annual meeting.