The President of Kyrgyzstan and the UN Country Team meet to discuss future plans
Bishkek, July 27 / Kabar /. A meeting between the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Almazbek Atambaev and the UN Country Team was held at the UN House in Bishkek on July 27, 2012. The meeting was organized to discuss the ongoing and future cooperation of Kyrgyzstan and the UN with focus on major priority areas. The President and the UN Country Team (21 agencies, funds and programmes) shared their views about the current work, and expressed their opinions about various challenges facing the country.
The meeting was held in the context of the 20th anniversary of UN presence in the country, as well as the Kyrgyz Republic having become a member state of the UN the same year, in 1992. Furthermore in 2002, the Government of Kyrgyzstan provided the premises - the UN House - for the use of the UN system: a generous gift, which was celebrated by the UN Secretary-General officially opening the UN House 10 years ago.
Alongside with the meeting a photo exhibition “UN in Kyrgyzstan. United for Peace and Development: 20 Years Together” was opened, highlighting some of the concrete results that the partnership of the UN and Kyrgyzstan has had on people’s lives. Furthermore a display of different UN publications was compiled.
The long history and the close cooperation were felt at the meeting, which took place in a warm atmosphere. Both parties emphasized the successful and necessary cooperation between the Republic and the UN, and highlighted the fact that the national priorities – stability, ethnic harmony, democracy and anti-corruption among others – are very closely aligned with the UN’s work and form the basis for this strong partnership.
The agreed directions for the joint efforts are underlined in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (2012-2016) that was signed by the parties in March 2011. Representatives of the UN system and the UN Resident Coordinator gave the President a brief overview of the achievements, challenges and ways forward within the areas of Peace, Stability and Sustainable Development, which are the overarching goals of this document guiding the joint work. “I consider our meeting today as an important milestone in enhancing our joint vision on the UN contribution to the sustainable development of Kyrgyzstan in the coming years,” the UN Resident Coordinator concluded in his opening address to the President Atambaev to emphasize this cooperation.
In his speech the President Atambaev put a strong emphasis on various issues including anti-drug development, administration of justice and to the importance of fighting corruption to achieve economic development and stability. He furthermore underlined that the Government will pay special attention to human rights: “Rights and freedom of people is our main focus”.
As some of the priorities for the country’s development President Atambaev mentioned economic development, effective use of natural resources and nature conservation – issues, which are at the core of solving social problems. The Head of the State furthermore expressed his gratitude for the assistance provided by the UN: “We have one joint goal – to make Kyrgyzstan prosperous and stable country”, he concluded. UN Public Information and Communications Adviser reports.
