ASTANA, Kazakhstan
On 17 June 2026, Kaha Imnadze, SRSG for Central Asia and Head of UNRCCA, took part in the High-Level Roundtable of Executive Structures of Regional Organizations in Asia, convened by the Secretariat of the Conference of Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). The meeting was organized on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the CICA Secretariat and brought together representatives of regional organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the League of Arab States, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Organization of Turkic States, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Eurasian Economic Union.
The roundtable served as a platform for the exchange of views on the role of regional organizations and their complementary contributions in addressing the challenges and opportunities of an evolving multipolar world, with a particular emphasis on fostering trust and enhancing cooperation. The meeting also provided an opportunity to reflect on the current and potential role of the CICA in promoting dialogue, confidence-building and regional cooperation across the broader Asian region.
In his statement, SRSG Kaha Imnadze underlined that cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations was governed by Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, which outlined the role of regional arrangements in maintaining international peace and security. He stressed that it was not simply a legal reference, but a reflection that while peace was universal in principle, it was often regional in practice, and when the UN and regional organizations worked together, they brought diplomacy closer to geography.
He also mentioned that UNRCCA maintained close cooperation with most of the key regional organizations that included the Central Asian states among their membership, and that such cooperation was explicitly reflected in the mission’s mandate.
