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OSCE Chairman begins regional tour

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe - OSCE logo. OSCE
The Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Bulgaria's Foreign Minister, Solomon Passy, on Monday began a regional tour of the five Central Asian states and Afghanistan “to establish contacts with the leadership and civil society," OSCE spokesman Keith Jinks told IRIN from the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. "This trip is significant for both the OSCE and for Central Asia because we are gradually focusing more on this region with a view to improving levels of democratisation and moving towards [a] market-based economy. Now there is a lot of focus on the Balkans, but the intention in the future is to move more of our resources to Central Asia," the OSCE official explained. The tour started in the Uzbek capital with a meeting focused on education, bringing together all the ministers of education from the Central Asian states, Afghanistan and representatives from several UN agencies and other international organisations. "The tour is initially focused on education to encourage regional cooperation to invest in this area as a way of promoting stability and reducing poverty. Education is the key to inculcate coming generations' ideas about a more democratic economy, starting up small enterprises, etc. It is, to transmit the idea that they can successfully move away from a Soviet idea of the economy," Jinks explained. "By prioritising education, the Bulgarian chairmanship intends to mobilise national and international political attention to the issue [OSCE standards], as well as to activate additional resources through raising donor interest. The initiative will cover the whole OSCE area, focusing on specific regional problems and highlighting the issues of common interest," the Bulgarian Foreign Minister said during the meeting. The Chairman-in-Office will also visit Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan to talk to those countries' Presidents, their Foreign Ministers, and representatives of the Parliament and civil society. "In other countries the focus will be on electoral law and the reform of media law. In the case of Bishkek [Kyrgyzstan] the emphasis will be put on promoting law on education, and probably there will also be time to talk about the pilot project of police reform which is starting in this city," Jinks said. Asked about other priorities that the international organisation had in the region, Jinks asserted that the OSCE is working to ensure a level playing field for political parties in preparing for elections, as well as making sure that the elections are absolutely free and fair.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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