ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan

The tenth annual Meeting of Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Central Asian states and Afghanistan, organized by the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, took place on 10 December 2020 in an online format. The event brought together deputy ministers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Afghanistan.

Addressing the meeting, the Special Representative of Secretary-General for Central Asia, Head of UNRCCA, Natalia Gherman underlined that “despite the current challenging situation countries of the region maintained regular contacts at different levels, including at the highest political level, to secure cooperation in the socioeconomic and other fields”.      

The event provided a platform to exchange views on developments and trends affecting peace and security in Central Asia. Participants also discussed the outcomes of the UN Regional Centre’s activities over the past year and examined the issues related to the interaction between UNRCCA and the governments of the Central Asian states. Particular attention was paid to the efforts on preventing violent extremism and countering terrorism in the region conducted under the Joint Plan of Action for the Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia and the cooperation between the Central Asian states and Afghanistan.

Several senior level UN officials, including Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General, Head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism; Deborah Lyons, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) and Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, took part in the meeting.

As part of the meeting, UNRCCA hosted the Second Government-Youth Dialogue for Central Asia and Afghanistan. Participants of the UNRCCA Preventive Diplomacy Academy initiative, representing six countries, met virtually with high-level officials from the region and discussed the issues of the regional youth interaction. The Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake, addressed the participants of the Second Government-Youth Dialogue and extended her support to UNRCCA activities towards engaging young people of Central Asia and Afganistan in promoting regional peace and security.