Uzbek Forum for Human Rights is a Berlin-based NGO dedicated to protecting human rights and strengthening civil society in Uzbekistan. With a strong focus on labor rights and corporate accountability, we work to expose abuses, support local activists, and promote transparency and justice.

Founded and led by Umida Niyazova, a leading human rights advocate, Uzbek Forum combines international expertise with a trusted grassroots network of independent rights monitors inside Uzbekistan.

Our Founder

Umida Niyazova
Umida Niyazova

Umida Niyazova began her human rights work in Uzbekistan in 2000, holding positions with organizations such as Internews Network, Freedom House, and Human Rights Watch.
In 2007, she was arrested in Tashkent on politically motivated charges and sentenced to seven years in prison. Thanks to international pressure, she was released after four months and later forced into exile.

In 2009, Umida established Uzbek Forum for Human Rights in Berlin, continuing her commitment to defend the rights of Uzbek citizens from abroad.

Our Work

  • Grassroots Monitoring – We coordinate a network of trained local activists in Uzbekistan who document human rights abuses, often at great personal risk. Their monitoring of forced and child labor in the cotton and silk sectors has produced the most comprehensive archive of labor rights violations in the country.
  • Research & Advocacy – We publish reports, articles, videos, and podcasts that inform global media, policymakers, international institutions such as the World Bank Group and the UN, as well as Uzbekistan’s own civil society.
  • Global Partnerships – We collaborate with organizations including Human Rights Watch, the Coalition for Rights in Development, and the UNCAC Coalition, amplifying our impact worldwide. As a frontline partner of the Cotton Campaign, our evidence-based reporting shapes advocacy strategies to end forced labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry.

Strengthening Civil Society

We work with local activists to equip them with monitoring, reporting and advocacy skills that build their capacity to hold power to account. We identify speaking opportunities at home and abroad that raise their profiles and amplify their voices with national and international policy makers and media outlets. When rights defenders come under pressure from the authorities, we activate our networks to strengthen their security and protect them from retaliations.


Recognition

  • 2016 – Uzbek Forum’s monitors received the International Labor Rights Forum Defenders Award for outstanding contributions to exposing forced and child labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton fields.
  • 2018 & 2019 – Nominated for the Human Rights and Business Award for organizations making significant contributions to the protection of rights in the business sector.