Turkmenistan’s Statement on Investment in People to Enhance Resilience at UNSC Debate

New York, 1 February 2023 (TDI): Ambassador Aksoltan Ataeva, the Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the United Nations (UN) gave a statement at
the open debate of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The debate was on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace “Investment in people to enhance resilience against complex challenges.” Following is the text of his statement.

Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the five countries of Central Asia, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and my own country Turkmenistan.

At the outset, let me express our gratitude to the Permanent Mission of Japan for organizing this open debate.

Our main tasks and obligations, as the United Nations Member States while implementing the fundamental principles of the UN Charter in practice, depend mostly on our collective efforts to build & sustain peace with a view to ‘leaving no one behind.’

However, this process needs agreed political mechanisms and a legal basis at the regional and global levels to proceed with further activities on the ground.

I have the honor to inform you that 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 76/299 on 28 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.

Countries of Central Asia put forward a number of global initiatives contributing to lasting peace and stability throughout the world.

Taking this opportunity let me mention some of them. It was seventeen years ago that our five countries established a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, which was a significant step to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The last UN GA resolution on this subject was adopted on 7 December 2022, on behalf of Central Asia. United Nations General Assembly unanimously supported the initiative of proclaiming the 5th of March as the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness.

We believe that this initiative will contribute to the strengthening of international peace and security and will increase the prospect that future generations will live in a world without nuclear weapons.

Also read: Turkmenistan hosts meeting on “International Year of Dialogue as Guarantee of Peace”

The High-Level Conference held in October 2022 in Tajikistan continued the Dushanbe Process on Combating Terrorism and its Financing launched in May 2018.

Moreover, the initiative to establish in Almaty UN Regional Centre for SDGs for Central Asia and Afghanistan is a timely and relevant proposal, supported by five countries of the region, that would contribute to enhancing coordination activities in strengthening peace and sustainability.

In accordance with the United Nations General Assembly resolutions, we launched and completed the global campaign in the context of the International Year of Peace and Trust in 2021, and started this year coordinating activities in the context of the International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace.

We can, therefore, well use this impetus for accelerating our common regional action for peacebuilding with a view to reinforce and accelerate the initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General to form an ambitious New Agenda for Peace.

Besides this Agenda, we in the region are pressing forward with his proposed aims to reduce global strategic risks, invest in conflict prevention and peacemaking, and support regional preventive measures.

And as we start undertaking practical steps to unleash our political will to implement these peacebuilding agendas, we often stop where the resources are not available.

Our discussion today is about these resources, and in particular, their financial aspects; and we have already set the goals. On 8 September 2022, the General Assembly adopted by consensus an important resolution 76/305, the first of its kind, focused on financing for peacebuilding.

The Central Asian countries strongly believe, that financing remains a critical challenge and needs our collective commitment to adequate, predictable, and sustained fiscal sources for peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding.

In this regard, we welcome the valuable work undertaken by the Peacebuilding Fund and international financial institutions as a catalytic, rapid-response, and flexible pre-positioned pooled fund, which provides financing to activities to sustain peace in conflict-affected countries.

We also note with appreciation the launch of the Secretary-General’s peacebuilding funding dashboard and its contribution to enhancing transparency and coordination of funds and strengthening financial accessibility.

It further facilitates information sharing while supporting United Nations peacebuilding at the national, regional, and global levels. Another important question is how and where we can best direct all the available resources.

In this regard, the Central Asian countries view the main opportunity gaps in addressing financial needs to enhance investments in human capital, including full, equal and meaningful participation of women and youth in peacemaking, conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts to achieve social justice.

These are more than mere gender equality and youth engagement. They are about updating peacebuilding: creating solutions that reflect the needs of all people in conflict-affected settings and address the underlying conditions that drive conflict in the first place.

In this regard, as a clear example of effective activities in the prevention nexus is the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), which was established 15 years ago in Turkmenistan.

With the valuable support of the Preventive Diplomacy Centre our countries established the Central Asian Women Leaders’ Caucus (CAWLC) and Preventive Diplomacy Academy for young people.

Women Leaders’ Caucus became the first platform of its kind aimed at increasing the political, economic, and social participation of women in the Central Asian region.

It was a major landmark, when in November 2022, CAWLC stepped into peacebuilding deliberations by taking part in the dedicated session of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), and a preceding side event, both held at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Mr. Chairman,

The states of Central Asia are convinced that taking joint actions, and encouraging all Member States and other partners to consider increasing their contributions to peacebuilding and sustaining peace activities in the relevant countries and regions, the international community will strive and succeed in making the world a better place.

Thank you for your attention!