UN praise peace building, condemns poverty

At the start of a three-day visit to Tajikistan, a senior UN official praised the Central Asian nation's peace process, but said there was more to do to reduce poverty in the poorest of all former Soviet republics. “In terms of peace building [in Tajikistan], we are very impressed with the progress. [The] United Nations Tajikistan Office for Peace Building (UNTOP) is one of the models of success and has helped to end the conflict and to consolidate [the nation] for peace,” Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, said after the meeting with Tajik Prime Minister Aqil Aqilov in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe on Wednesday. “I commended the government for the economic reforms programme and economic growth, but we still need to reduce the level of poverty,” he added. Gambari arrived in Dushanbe late on Tuesday for a three-day visit and was due to meet the leader of the Tajik parliament (Majlisi Oli}, Mahmasaid Ubaidoulloev, and the head of the main opposition party, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, Said Abdoullo Nouree. “We are here as the United Nations to work with the government and the people of Tajikistan, to consolidate in the peace process because we realise, and the government agrees, that without peace there can be no development,” the UN official said. “We had a very comprehensive discussion on all aspects of development in the country; the economy, trade issues and the problems of unemployment, as well as poverty reduction,” Gambari added. The Tajik economy is still recovering from a five-year civil war in the 1990s that killed some 150,000 people and ruined much of the country’s economy, which today is dependent on aluminium and cotton exports and international humanitarian aid. In addition, about a half of the workers in Tajikistan, 700,000, leave the mountainous former-Soviet country annually, mainly to Russia, for seasonal work - often illegally. Gambari, whose visit to the Central Asian country was his first, also suggested helping Tajikistan in its preparations for the presidential election in November. “As for the elections, the United Nations will not interfere in the internal processes, but we are ready to help in terms of technical assistance and our staff [can help] on assessment to [ensure] the election meets international standards, being free, fair and transparent,” Gambari said.