ASTANA, Kazakhstan

Delivered by Mr. Miroslav Jenča, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA)

I am pleased to send greetings to all participants at the Commemorative Session and Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, CICA.

The proposal to establish CICA was put forward at the United Nations General Assembly twenty years ago. Some of the countries represented here today had only recently emerged as independent States. It was a time of great challenges, but also of opportunities.

Today, we see another wave of change taking place across the world. Once again, we have a generational chance to help women and men meet their aspirations for dignity and a better life for all.

The United Nations has an action agenda to rise to this challenge. We will focus on sustainable development. We will promote prevention, including by reducing the risk of national disasters, boosting mediation and conflict resolution efforts, and advancing human rights. We will build a safer and more secure world by strengthening peacekeeping partnerships and humanitarian response capacities, progressing with disarmament, non-proliferation and counter-terrorism efforts, and addressing organized crime, piracy and drug-trafficking. We will support nations in transition. And we will work with and for women and young people to meet their needs and defend their rights.
I value your efforts to help reach these goals. I encourage you to deepen your dialogue in order to find forward-looking, sustainable solutions to the region's political, humanitarian and developmental challenges. The United Nations will continue to cooperate with you in this great effort.

In that spirit, please accept my best wishes for the success of this gathering.