Central Europe

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

Summary

• Following the instruction of 24 February to temporarily evacuate all SMM international mission members, the Kharkiv Monitoring Team completed its evacuation and the Kherson Monitoring Team started its evacuation.
• The relocation of national mission members formerly stationed in Kramatorsk and Sievierodonetsk continues while the relocation of those formerly stationed in Mariupol is pending due to security concerns.
• The Chief Monitor and senior management will remain in Ukraine until the evacuation process is complete.

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

Summary

• During the night of 3 to 4 March, the Kherson Monitoring Team heard shooting. On 4 March, internet and mobile coverage became intermittent at the SMM’s office in Kherson city.
• Following the instruction of 24 February to temporarily evacuate all SMM international mission members, the Kharkiv Monitoring Team continued its evacuation westwards through Ukraine, while the Kherson Monitoring Team remained sheltered in place awaiting a window to evacuate safely.
• The Chief Monitor and senior management will remain in Ukraine until the evacuation process is complete.

ERGNETI, 4 March 2022 — The 105th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place today in Ergneti, under the co-facilitation of Ambassador Marek Szczygieł, Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Viorel Moşanu, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus. 

Both co-facilitators opened the meeting by welcoming the commitment of the participants to the IPRM format and the use of the EUMM-managed Hotline to raise and address issues of concern.

Ambassador Szczygieł called on the participants to refrain in the current geopolitical situation from any steps that might negatively affect the stability and security along the ABL. He encouraged the use of the EUMM-operated hotline to address any issues of concern and to provide early warning about planned activities.

Ambassador Moşanu called on the participants to focus their efforts on improving the situation of the conflict-affected population on the ground and voiced his hope for pragmatic approaches to solving the practical needs of people living on both sides of the administrative boundary line (ABL).

During the meeting, participants focused on ongoing detention cases and discussed the impact that the protracted closure of crossing points and the COVID-19 pandemic continue to have on conflict-affected communities. They also discussed the most recent security developments at the ABL, including instances of ‘borderization’, as well as the situation in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area.

The co-facilitators noted with concern the increased number of detentions in recent weeks and called for a humanitarian approach to all detention cases. They called for more efforts that would contribute to resuming a greater freedom of movement and welcomed the continued commitment to support the livelihoods through water sharing. Additionally, the co-facilitators advocated for the conflict-affected population's access to religious sites and graveyards during upcoming holidays.

The participants agreed to convene the next IPRM meeting on 12 April 2022.

The Russian invasion on Ukraine has already resulted in thousands of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians. The unprovoked, aggressive war in Ukraine threatens to bring carnage on a vastly larger scale, not seen in Europe since World War II. 

Yet another reason for international condemnation is the missile attack on Babyn Yar, a neighborhood several miles from the center of Kyiv. It was in Babyn Yar, where in September 1941 Nazi Germany murdered 34,000 Jews, whose bodies remain buried in a ravine adjacent to an old Jewish cemetery. This attack damaged the memorial erected to these Nazi victims. The purpose of this war, we are told, is to “denazify” the Ukrainian leadership, so it is truly tragic and ironic that this site and this monument are among those sites affected by Russian actions. 

In our efforts to combat anti-Semitism throughout the OSCE region, the leadership in Kyiv are allies and examples. We pray for the Ukrainian people and peace. We look forward to the day when we will together repair and rededicate the Babyn Yar monument as a memorial to the struggles of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries.

Rabbi Andrew Baker - Personal Representative on Combating Anti-Semitism

Associate Professor Dr. Regina Polak - Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions

Ambassador Mehmet Paçacı - Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

Summary

• On the morning of 3 March, the SMM continued to hear explosions around Kherson city.
• Following the instruction of 24 February to temporarily evacuate all SMM international mission members, the Kharkiv Monitoring Team continued its evacuation westwards through Ukraine, while the Kherson Monitoring Team remained sheltered in place awaiting a window to evacuate safely.
• The Chief Monitor and senior management will remain in Ukraine until the evacuation process is complete.

VIENNA, 3 March 2022 – As the Russian authorities continue to seriously infringe the right to freedom of expression and media freedom in the context of the country’s military attack against Ukraine, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, today made the following statement.

“I remain extremely alarmed at the continuing denigration, stigmatization, intimidation and threats towards the media and journalists by the Russian public authorities. These practices are in strong breach of OSCE commitments on freedom of expression and media freedom and must stop,” Ribeiro said. “I again call on the Russian authorities to fully implement all their relevant international obligations and commitments, including by respecting, promoting and protecting the freedom to seek, receive and impart information regardless of frontiers, as well as by ensuring a safe working environment for journalists.”

The Representative's comments follow the reports that the authorities have tabled a law that is about to be adopted, which would introduce criminal liability and imprisonment of up to 15 years for spreading “fake” information about special military and other operations of the Russian armed forces.

The Representative further noted and strongly denounced the continued highly disproportionate measures of the Russian authorities against media to control public communications, including the blocking of entire websites and closing down of digital spaces.

On 1 March, the media regulatory agency Roskomnadzor upon instruction of the Prosecutor General’s Office blocked the websites of the well-known liberal Russian media outlets Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd. After this, the owner of Ekho Moskvy, the state-affiliated company Gazprom-Media, closed down the media outlet completely. Also, several journalists from Dozhd who fear for their safety, left the country, and the channel announced temporary suspension of its work.

In the course of the last days, Roskomnadzor reportedly blocked the websites of Current Time (part of RFE/RL), DOXA and The Village, as well as many Ukrainian news platforms, including Gordon, Correspondent.Net, Ukrainskaya Pravda, TSN, 24TV, Segodnya, Ukrinform, Leviy Bereg, Fakty, Zaxid.net, Zerkalo Nedeli, Сensor.net, Vesti.ua and others.

“Taken together, these measures lead to an establishment of a state monopoly on information in the Russian Federation, a very sad development for media freedom in the country and is going against relevant OSCE commitments,” concluded the Representative.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom.

513319

The OSCE Mobile Training Team and the OSCE Mission to Serbia jointly organized an interactive training course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters at the borders for 16 officers of the Serbian Service for Combating Terrorism on 2 and 3 March in Belgrade, Serbia.

This specially designed two-day training course was based on the feedback received from Serbian officials after the first online Mobile Training Team deployment held in 2021. The topics that were identified as most relevant were the role of INTERPOL in identifying foreign terrorist fighters at the borders as well as behavioral analysis and interviewing techniques.

“The fight against terrorism is an international one, and Serbia plays an integral part in it. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure the best possible training in this field,” said Dusan Mihajlovic, Deputy Head of the Service for Combating Terrorism of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia.

“After more than two years of the Border Security and Management Unit not being able to conduct an in-person training course in the Republic of Serbia, it is very nice to be back. This once again shows the importance of in-person training courses due to their interactive nature and the opportunity for exchange and discussion that goes far beyond the classroom,” said Florian Krejsa, the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department.

The Mobile Training Team included international experts from INTERPOL and the United States of America, who shared their knowledge and expertise on identifying foreign terrorist fighters at the borders.

The Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department established the OSCE Mobile Training Team in 2016. It is composed of 17 border and counter-terrorism experts from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.  This is the thirteenth deployment of the Mobile Training Team organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

CHISINAU, 3 March 2022 — OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid concluded her two-day official visit to Moldova, during which she met with OSCE staff who were temporarily evacuated from Ukraine and with high level officials.

Secretary General Schmid met with OSCE staff who were recently relocated from Ukraine due to the deteriorated security situation. She expressed her heartfelt gratitude and admiration for the dedication of OSCE staff in Ukraine and assured that the OSCE will support them in every way possible.

“It is hard to put into words how proud I and the whole OSCE community are of the great work you have been doing in Ukraine,” she underlined. “I want to re-emphasise that this relocation is temporary. The situation is dire right now, but I will make every effort to resume our work in the country as soon as it is safe to do so. I reiterate my call for the immediate cessation of all military activities.”

In Chisinau, Schmid also met with President Maia Sandu, and with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicolae Popescu. She thanked them for their rapid support to facilitate the arrival of evacuated OSCE staff in Moldova. They highlighted Moldova’s preparedness to accommodate refugees and the need to support these efforts.

The Secretary General also praised the crucial role played by the OSCE Mission to Moldova, both in its long-term role in building confidence between the sides, and for the support provided to OSCE staff that were evacuated from Ukraine in recent days. 

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

Summary

• One national Mission member was reported killed by shelling in Kharkiv.
• During the evening of 1 March and morning of 2 March, the SMM continued to hear multiple explosions and heavy machine-gun fire in and around Kherson city. It also observed the movement of Russian Federation Armed Forces equipment and troops in the city.
• Following the 24 February decision to temporarily evacuate all SMM international mission members, the Kharkiv Monitoring Team continued its evacuation westwards through Ukraine, while the Kherson Monitoring Team remained sheltered in place awaiting a window to evacuate safely.
• The Chief Monitor and senior management will remain in Ukraine until the evacuation process is complete.

VIENNA/WARSAW – Maryna Fenina, a national member of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), died in shelling in Kharkiv yesterday, 1 March. 

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid extend their most heartfelt condolences to Maryna’s loved ones, as well as to the SMM as a whole: 

“Our deepest condolences and sympathies go to Maryna’s family. Maryna was a valued member of the SMM team, and our colleagues in Ukraine remain in close contact with her family to offer our support.”

“Maryna was killed while getting supplies for her family in a city that has become a war zone. In Kharkiv and other cities and towns in Ukraine, missiles, shells and rockets are hitting residential buildings and town centers, killing and injuring innocent civilians – women, men and children alike."

"Despite repeated calls from across the international community, and from across the OSCE, the unprovoked military operation against Ukraine continues. We strongly condemn the increased shelling in urban areas centres causing death and injury to civilians and reiterate our call on the Russian Federation for an immediate cessation of hostilities and to engage in a meaningful dialogue."

513349 OSCE Centre in Ashgabat

An OSCE-organized regional online workshop on international humanitarian assistance for refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons, concluded in Ashgabat on 4 March 2022.

The event focused on exchanging international best practices in providing humanitarian assistance for internally displaced persons, migration governance, and identification of presumed victims of trafficking in mixed migration flows.

The event brought together more than seventy officials from relevant border agencies of the five Central Asian countries, representatives from the UN and non-governmental organizations dealing with migration issues and the EU-funded Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA) and OSCE experts.

During the opening session, John MacGregor, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat said: “Around the world, millions of individuals are on the move, most often involuntarily, as the result of human-made or environmental upheaval; including in the OSCE region. As a result, promoting effective migration policies is an area of strategic importance for stability and economic growth”.

“We can see that a regional approach to comprehensive migration management is essential, and there are numerous related OSCE commitments, going back as far as 1975,” he added.

Representatives from the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Norwegian Refugee Council and BOMCA presented their policies and activities to provide humanitarian assistance for those in need, stressing the importance of inter-governmental and inter-agency co-ordination in effectively managing mixed migration flows.

Experts emphasized that human mobility was the defining feature of the 21st century, and it would remain so in many years to come. It was noted that whatever the cause, be it humanitarian or socioeconomic, migration-related challenges could only be best addressed through enhanced mutual co-operation, building international and regional coalitions of multiple stakeholders and balancing state security with human security.

Representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan shared best practices and experiences of their countries in migration management.

OSCE experts discussed OSCE commitments and instruments designed to respond to migration-related challenges. They stressed that the benefit of the OSCE in the discussion on governance of large unregulated movements of people lay in its vision and approach to migration governance-related challenges through the “migration-security nexus”, taking into full account national as well as human security aspects.

The workshop was organized within the framework of the Centre’s extrabudgetary project “Strengthening State Border Service Capacities of Turkmenistan” and supported financially by the Government of Norway.

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

Summary

• During the evening of 28 February and during the morning on 1 March, the SMM continued to hear multiple explosions and heavy machine-gun fire in and around the cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kherson.
• On 1 March, the Monitoring Teams from Donetsk and Luhansk Patrol Hubs in non-government controlled areas were evacuated, while the Kharkiv Monitoring Team was withdrawn to Dnipro, pending onward movement out of the country. The SMM Monitoring Team in Kherson remains sheltered in place. The Chief Monitor and senior management will remain in Ukraine until the evacuation process is complete.
• The Mission continued evacuation activities as per the 25 February decision to temporarily evacuate all international mission members.

VIENNA, 1 March 2022 - OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Teresa Ribeiro presented today a legal analysis of two Maltese draft laws on media. This analysis is written by an independent international media expert and concerns Malta’s Bill of the Act “to amend the Constitution and various other laws to strengthen the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy and to implement various measures for the protection of the media and of journalists” and of the Bill of the Act “to provide for the establishment of structures for the protection of democratic society, including the protection of journalists, other persons with a role in the media and in non-governmental organisations and persons in public life”.

Next to outlining international standards on freedom of expression and freedom of information and those particularly referring to libel and insult, safety of journalists, Strategic Litigation against Public Participation (SLAPPs), and relevant private international law provisions, the analysis includes an overview of the proposed legislation, particularly focusing on its compliance with international and OSCE freedom of expression standards. It presents recommendations for improvement.

Noting that the draft amendments contain a series of relevant reforms regarding the protection of the right to freedom of expression in the Constitution of Malta, the analysis recommends to include the right to seek information as a basic component of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of information. Further, it recommends to adjust the language of the constitutional provision on hate speech to the terms and criteria used by international law and other relevant international documents in this area.

As for reforms in the Media and Defamation Act, and regarding the liability of editors and publishers in cases of death of the original author, a safeguard must be introduced to guarantee that proceedings can only be pursued when legal liability can properly and fairly be established and determined in the absence of the said journalist. It is also recommended that, in case of death of both author and editor, publishers may only be held liable on a subsidiary basis and when the responsibility of the former persons has already been established in a fair trial. The analysis recommends to eliminate provisions regarding the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements in cases of defamation and replace them with a comprehensive anti-SLAPP legal regime containing the provisions and safeguards already recommended by international organizations.

The analysis also recommends the adoption of a series of additional legal instruments and measures to reinforce prevention and prosecution mechanisms with regards to the protection of journalists and avoiding impunity.

The Representative highlighted the importance of public discussions of the draft amendments: “I encourage the Maltese authorities to carefully review this legal analysis and to take into account its recommendations. Transparent consultations with the Committee of Media Experts, civil society, media and other national and international key actors must be ensured prior to the discussion and adoption of this important legislation by the Parliament. It is paramount that the upcoming legal reforms provide better protections to journalists online and offline, pave the way for free access to government-held information and create an environment conducive to safe and independent journalism in Malta.”

The full version of the legal analysis can be found here: https://www.osce.org/representative-on-freedom-of-media/513220.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom.

513211 Jeff Bieley Edita Buçaj

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded a series of eight workshops that introduced bilingual tools (developed with the OSCE Mission’s help) that will help strengthen communication between Kosovo Police (KP) officers and the communities they serve. Held in close co-operation with the KP and the Office of Language Commissioner (OLC), the workshops hosted a total of 160 supervisors, traffic officers and first responders from all eight KP regional directorates.

The tools include a bilingual handbook for traffic police, a bilingual language proficiency scheme for new cadets, and a multilingual mobile platform. Containing common police phrases in Albanian and Serbian, the official languages used in Kosovo, and voice recordings of expressions in Albanian, Serbian and English, they are meant to help police officers use basic phrases in official languages, to enhance communication with the communities they serve and respect and promote human rights.

A scenario-based video for new police cadets with messages from the Language Commissioner and General Director of Kosovo Police was also presented. The video introduced innovative approaches for improving public-institutional communication and raising awareness about the importance of bilingualism as a bridge to strengthen the trust between police and communities.

“Bilingualism opens doorways toward enhanced community trust, improves victim centered approaches and builds a strong link with community policing. Accurate and effective communication through bilingualism is critical to deescalate misunderstandings or reduce unnecessarily violent escalations,” said Edward Anderson, Director of the OSCE Mission Department of Security and Public Safety.

The workshops mark the conclusion of the OSCE Mission project funded by the Government of Switzerland, which confirms the Mission’s commitment to advance bilingualism in the KP and security sector, and promote equal use of official languages in line with the Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is mandated with the protection and promotion of human and community rights, and with democratization and public safety sector development. It regularly supports Kosovo Police and other law enforcement agencies to further improve their capacities.

513193 Communication and Media Relations Section Alexandra Taylor

The Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) concluded a two-day workshop on social reuse of assets confiscated from organized crime, held on 23 and 24 February 2022 in Sarajevo.

Organized with the support of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and in co-operation with the Sarajevo-based civil society organization Centre for Civil Society Promotion, the event gathered around 45 civil society organizations and government officials from BiH.

The workshop introduced the concept of reusing assets confiscated from organized crime for social and entrepreneurial purposes to civil society organizations. Representatives of asset management agencies presented the legal frameworks that allow this practice in BiH, while civil society organizations from Albania and Italy shared their experiences and challenges in establishing social reuse models. Professor Eldan Mujanović from the Sarajevo Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies familiarized participants with specificities of different mechanisms of social reuse in BiH. Mujanović highlighted the vital role of proactive participation and social responsibilities of civil society organizations in this process. Discussions emphasized the importance of possessing up-to-date information on legal processes and strengthening their capacities in a way that social reuse ideas can become sustainable long lasting projects.

The workshop was organized within the TNTD and OCEEA extra budgetary project “Strengthening the fight against transnational organized crime in South-Eastern Europe through improved regional co-operation in asset seizure, confiscation, management and re-use” supported financially by the United States, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.

WARSAW, 1 March 2022 – Peaceful anti-war protests were able to take place without restriction in the overwhelming majority of OSCE countries following the launch of military action against Ukraine last week, allowing citizens to exercise their right to peaceful protest, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement today.

The rights to peaceful assembly and expression are freedoms that lie at the heart of all democratic societies. All OSCE countries have committed to ensuring that “everyone will have the right of peaceful assembly and demonstration”. They have also have recognized that any restriction to this right must be stipulated by law and fully consistent with international standards.

However, ODIHR notes that peaceful protests in Russia and Belarus have been answered by numerous arbitrary arrests and police intimidation, with riot police on some occasions outnumbering protesters. There have also been cases of human rights defenders and journalists being arrested at the protests, or even before they were able to reach them. This often excessive use of force by law enforcement is a grave violation of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, core principles of democracy.

According to independent monitoring data, almost 6,500 peaceful protesters were arrested between 24 and 28 February in 67 cities across Russia, the majority in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In Belarus, some 860 people were arrested after anti-war protests broke out in several locations across the country on 27 and 28 February, according to government and other figures.

ODIHR takes note of reports that many of those initially detained have been released. All those who remain in detention in both Russia and Belarus only for their participation in peaceful assemblies should be immediately released, charges dropped against them, and any excessive use of police force swiftly investigated and prosecuted.

ODIHR urges all OSCE countries to observe the commitments they have made to respect the rights of their own people.

513265 Communication and Media Relations Section Alexandra Taylor

Trends, challenges, lessons learned and best practices in the field of youth crime and drug use prevention, and the need to strengthen educational programmes to foster youth’s understanding on the threats of organized crime, corruption and drug use were discussed at a workshop held on 1 March 2022 in Dushanbe. The Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the OSCE Transnational Threats Department co-organized the event with the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

The event brought together representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Agency for State Financial Control and Fight against Corruption, the Drug Control Agency, and the Committee for Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism of the Republic Tajikistan, as well as school teachers, university professors and civil society experts.

During the workshop, experts from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) introduced the UNODC Education4Justice and Global Programme on Prevention materials, which provide educators with guidance on how to teach youth on the dangers of organized crime, corruption and drug use.

In his opening remarks Amirov Jaloliddin, Chief Specialist of Primary and Secondary Professional Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tajikistan stressed the importance of fostering a culture of lawfulness among youth to prevent youth crime and drug use. He also emphasized how the workshop will help as effective platform for participants to exchange best practices and enrich their experience and knowledge in the field of youth crime and drug use prevention to apply this in their daily activities.

Project managers Eni Gjergji and Denise Mazzolani emphasized that the OSCE stands ready to assist the Republic of Tajikistan in implementing their National Drug Control Strategy and the State Anti-Corruption Strategy, fostering prevention of these phenomena through educating youth.

The workshop was held in the framework of the OSCE-wide project “Enhancing youth crime and drug use prevention through education on legality and awareness campaigns addressing threats of organized crime and corruption”. This extra-budgetary project, financed by Germany, aims to prevent transnational organized crime, corruption and drug use by complementing criminal justice efforts, fostering a culture of lawfulness among youth through education, and other social activities.

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

Summary

• During the evening of 27-28 February and from early morning hours on 28 February, the SMM continued to hear multiple explosions, including multiple launch rocket system and heavy artillery fire in and around the cities of Kharkiv and Kherson.

• The Mission completed the evacuation activities of most international mission members following the 25 February decision. The SMM Monitoring Teams in Kharkiv and Kherson remain sheltered in place, while its Monitoring Teams in Luhansk and Donetsk Patrol Hubs remain on standby for evacuation. The Chief Monitor and senior management will remain in Ukraine until the evacuation process is complete.

TASHKENT/NEW YORK/VIENNA, February 28, 2022 - On March 3-4, 2022, a high-level international conference on the topic: “Regional cooperation of Central Asian countries within the framework of the Joint Action Plan for the Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy”, will be held in Tashkent. 

This landmark international event, proposed by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his address to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, and coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Joint Plan of Action (JPoA)  will make a significant contribution to consolidating the efforts of the countries of the region and the international community in the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (UN GCTS) in Central Asia. 

The conference is co-organized by the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISRS), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). 

The Tashkent Conference will be held in a hybrid format and attended by senior officials and leading experts from national and foreign think tanks from Central and South Asia, the EU, representatives of other international and regional organizations and civil society.

Among the invitees are participants from the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Compact for the implementation of counter-terrorism measures, special representatives of Member States, some of them being donors in connection with counter-terrorism activities in Central Asia.

At the opening ceremony, an address is expected on behalf of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev and a video message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres. Other speakers include UN Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, and Special Representative of the Secretary General for Central Asia and Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), Ms.  Natalia German, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secretary General Zhang Mina, heads of delegations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 

The Republic of Uzbekistan will be represented by members of government, heads of Chambers and Committees of the Oliy Majlis, specialists from ministries, departments and non-governmental organizations and leading researchers from think tanks and universities.  

The 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) provides an opportunity to learn about the unique experience of implementing the UN GCTS in Central Asia, as well as to endorse a new edition of the JPOA, prepared on the basis of a ten-year review, multi-stakeholder consultations and consensus.  

Within the framework of the conference, in the form of panel discussions, four breakout sessions will be held on each of the four pillars of the GCTS.  These include: (i) addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism; (ii) preventing and countering terrorism; (iii) building states’ capacity to prevent and combat terrorism and to strengthen the role of the United Nations system in that regard; and (iv) ensuring respect for human rights for all and the rule of law as the fundamental basis for the fight against terrorism. 

Three side events will be held on the margins of the Conference: (1) the role of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in strengthening cooperation between the states of Central Asia within the framework of the JPoA; (2) the implementation of the UN GCTS, gender aspects in the work with women and children returning from war zones; and (3) financial support for programs to counter terrorism. These side events will be organized by SCO RATS, OSCE, UNOCT and their partners. 

The key documents following the outcome of the international meeting should be the Tashkent Declaration and updated Joint Plan of Action, in which the countries of Central Asia will define specific tasks for and reaffirm their commitment to the joint fight against terrorism, which poses a serious threat to international peace and security. 

The provisions of the Tashkent Declaration and the new Joint Plan of Action will become consistent and a logical continuation of previously adopted documents - the Ashgabat Declaration (2011), the Ashgabat Declaration on Countering Terrorism (2017), the Samarkand Declaration on Increasing the Role of Youth in Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization Leading to Terrorism (2018) and the Dushanbe Declaration on the results of the high-level international conference “International and regional cooperation against terrorism and its sources of financing, including drug trafficking and organized crime” (2019). 

****** 

For more information:

• Visit the Conference website:  https://gcts-ca.uz/en
• Contact the communications focal points: shokhimardonova.n@isrs.uz, anvarjon.meliboev@un.org, Dildorakhon.Israilova@osce.org
• Documents of reference: concept note, preliminary programme, and logistics note

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

• Until the late hours of the night of 26-27 February and from the early morning hours on 27 February, the SMM continued to hear multiple explosions, including multiple launch rocket system and heavy artillery fire in and around the cities of Kharkiv, Kherson, and Odessa.

• The Mission completed the evacuation of most International Mission members following the 25 February decision. The SMM Monitoring Teams in Kharkiv and Kherson remain sheltered in place, owing to ongoing fighting, and its Monitoring Teams in Luhansk and Donetsk Patrol Hubs await withdrawal through the Russian Federation. The Chief Monitor along with the Kyiv Head Office senior management remain in place in Ukraine to oversee remaining Mission withdrawal.