On 26 January 2023, the UN Security Council held an open debate on peace-building and peacekeeping under the topic “Investment in people to enhance resilience against complex challenges”.
More than 70 member countries, as well as heads of UN agencies, took part in the debate, which was initiated by Japan (the Chairman of the UN Security Council in January 2023).
The heads of delegations paid special attention to the following aspects of cooperation in the field of peace-building, financing of multilateral activities to enhance peace and security:
- The need to step up preventive activities and, as a consequence, strengthen UN special political missions with a mandate to carry out preventive diplomacy;
- Ways to implement the first UN General Assembly resolution on financing peacebuilding, which was adopted on 8 September 2022. In this regard, the need for systematic work of the entire UN system for the effective use of the available funds allocated for the implementation of the peacebuilding agenda was emphasized;
- Increasing efforts to implement UN Security Council resolutions “Women, Peace and Security” and “Youth, Peace and Security”. In this context, it was noted the need to strengthen cooperation on the involvement of women and youth in preventive peacekeeping, establishing their systematic dialogue with national governments.;
- Support of activities at the regional and global level for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is inextricably linked with the preservation and strengthening of political stability in turbulent regions of the world;
- The need to increase the level of coordination of joint activities between the UN Security Council and the UN Peacebuilding Commission. It was noted that such work is currently underway and gives tangible results in the form of joint recommendations, reports and resolutions on related topics.
Speaking on behalf of the Central Asian countries, Turkmenistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Aksoltan Atayeva drew the attention of the members of the UN Security Council and all participants to regional initiatives aimed at strengthening peace and security on a regional and global scale.
The text of Atayeva’s speech can be found here: https://un.mission.gov.tm/en/news/109518
It was noted that five countries of the region established a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia 17 years ago, which was an important step in strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime. With the support of all the United Nations Member States, the Zone of peace, trust and cooperation of Central Asia was declared by General Assembly resolution in July 2022.
It is the point from where we continue to spread our efforts to build and sustain peace within and beyond our region implementing the decisions taken during the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia, in particular last meeting in July 2022 in Cholpon-Ata city of Kyrgyzstan, she said.
The UN General Assembly resolutions declaring 2021 as the International Year of Peace and Trust and 2023 as the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace were also highlighted.
The Turkmen envoy underlined the relevance of the initiative to establish a UN Regional Centre for SDGs for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty. This proposal, supported by the five countries of the region, will contribute to enhancing coordination activities in strengthening peace and sustainability.
In her remarks, Atayeva praised the activities of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), which was established 15 years ago in Turkmenistan, as well as the creation of the Central Asian Women Leaders’ Caucus (CAWLC) and Preventive Diplomacy Academy for young people under the support of UNRCCA.///nCa, 2 February 2023