Officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Government of Tajikistan and civil society representatives met last week to discuss their joint activities for 2020, the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe said on August 28.
New initiatives will be launched next year, with existing areas of cooperation on economic development, anti-corruption and disaster risk reduction significantly expanded.
The meeting, known as the Partnership Platform, brought together representatives from 25 government agencies, as well as 40 civil society groups.
The Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, Valeriu Chiveri, said that the meeting marked the start of an exciting period of renewed cooperation: “Over the next year we will be initiating a large number of new activities across all three dimensions. We accomplish more when we work together, and I am delighted that we will be cooperating with over 70 government and civil society partners in 2020 to deliver tangible benefits for all citizens.”
Muzaffar Huseinzoda, Tajikistan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, underlined that “development of economic and social life, increasing the livelihood of people, bringing a quality approach to education and science, taking care of the environment, sustainable development, as well as the human dimension are the main priority areas of our cooperation with the OSCE.”
Ambassador Jan Bory, representing Slovakia as the OSCE Chair, emphasized the importance of the event, noting that “the OSCE-Tajikistan Partnership Platform can help translate the words spoken between Chairperson-in-Office Lajčak and Tajik President Rahmon during their meeting in May 2019 into concrete actions.”
The Deputy Head of the OSCE Secretariat’s Action Against Terrorism Unit, Fejzo Numanaj, representing the OSCE Secretariat, highlighted Tajikistan’s active role in the OSCE, most notably its chairing of the Forum for Security Cooperation this year. “The country plays an important role in promoting regional security and stability, and we are pleased to support these efforts as best as we can. It is a signal of our commitment that the OSCE has based some of its largest regional cooperation initiatives in Dushanbe, most notably on border security and management,” he said.
The Partnership Platform was launched in 2018 to reinforce cooperation between the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and Tajikistan on the basis of genuine partnership, local ownership, openness and transparency.
