ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan

On 10-11 November, UNRCCA in partnership with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Resident Coordinator Office in Turkmenistan (UN RCO), USAID/Winrock, the Westminster International University in Tashkent and with support of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan conducted the 1st Turkmenistan Ashgabat Model United Nations (TAMUN) Regional Conference. The conference was devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

More than 100 students from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan took part in the event. Participants had an opportunity to simulate the work of different UN entities, including the Security Council, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Committee on Civil and Political Rights and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. They got acquainted with the work of these entities in addressing regional and global challenges, with a particular focus on human rights.  

Kaha Imnadze, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Central Asia, Head of the UNRCCA, opening the conference, underlined that “negotiation process requires skills to balance competing interests and persuade other to accept compromises that are in the best interest of all parties involved. It is important to understand that the world is not perfect, and it will never be prefect and there will be no perfect solutions to resolve all the issues. However, it is of paramount importance that disputes are resolved and conflicts are handled in a peaceful and constructive manner”. The SRSG encouraged participants to approach the simulation exercise with open mind and take the most out of it for their future careers.