BAN VOICES APPRECIATION FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH EURASIA AGAINST GLOBAL TERRORISM

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the cooperation between the United Nations and the intergovernmental group known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in combating global terrorism and other challenges through strengthened dialogue with Eurasian countries.

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has become an essential forum for addressing security in Eurasia in all its dimensions – political, economic, military, and environmental," Mr. Ban told the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, taking place in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

In a message delivered by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe to the two-day gathering, Mr. Ban noted that the SCO's commitment to developing joint solutions to shared challenges is all the more significant today, as the world faces pressing, interconnected crises, such as food insecurity, climate change and the global financial and economic turmoil.

"We also continue to grapple with the menaces of terrorism, armed conflict and instability," noted the Secretary-General. "I am confident that the work of the SCO will further the collective efforts of the international community in responding to these threats – and in seizing common opportunities for trade, development and cultural exchange."

He added that through the UN Regional Centre for Central Asia, the world body can reinforce its cooperation with the SCO on preventive diplomacy.

"The series of meetings planned by the Regional Centre on implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia, culminating with a ministerial conference next year, could be an excellent vehicle for building our relationship," he said.

In addition, he said that the SCO's "observer status in the General Assembly offers an additional basis for intensifying our partnership."
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BAN CONDEMNS DEADLY ATTACK IN PAKISTANI CITY OF LAHORE

BAN CONDEMNS DEADLY ATTACK IN PAKISTANI CITY OF LAHORE
New York, May 27 2009 2:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the bombing today in the Pakistani city of Lahore, in which some 30 people were reported killed and 250 wounded.

"No cause can justify such indiscriminate terrorist violence," according to a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3885">statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson.

The Secretary-General extended his condolences to the families of the victims and wished those injured a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, the UN Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/media/media_49793.html">UNICEF) has said that the number of people displaced by fighting in the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has now reached 3 million.

In an interview with UN Radio, UNICEF Pakistan's Deputy Representative, Luc Chauvin, warned that displaced civilians still face a humanitarian catastrophe unless the international community responds urgently to the recent appeal for funds launched by the UN and the humanitarian community.

On Friday, the UN and its partners appealed for $543 million to help those uprooted by the fighting between Government forces and militants in NWFP since 2 May.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR), about ten per cent of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living in camps and the rest are staying with friends or in communal buildings, such as schools. The agency continues to assist the IDPs, including by providing tents and other urgent relief items.
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TERRORISM, DRUGS AND CRIME THWARTING AFGHAN DEVELOPMENT, WARNS BAN

Terrorism, illicit drug trafficking and organized crime are seriously impeding progress in Afghanistan, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today, calling for greater international cooperation to help the country tackle these challenges.

"They are obstacles to development," Mr. Ban said in an address to the Special Conference on Afghanistan, convened in Moscow under the aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

"They bring violence into people's daily lives. They undermine justice and human rights. They are a grave threat to public health, to governance and a democratic future.

"These interconnected ills are sapping public confidence in the institutions that so many people have worked so hard to reinforce," the Secretary-General told the meeting, attended by representatives from Russia, the Central Asian countries, Iran, Pakistan, China, India and many regional organizations.

Mr. Ban stressed that Afghanistan cannot face these challenges alone, and that all countries have an interest in countering them with "sustained and robust" action.

"The problems harm not only the Afghan people," he noted. "They pose a major danger to the region and the world at large. And all of us must be involved in helping to solve them."

In the area of illicit drug trafficking for example, he emphasized the shared responsibility in reducing demand abroad, reducing supply in Afghanistan, and tightening security along trafficking routes. "Cooperation must be our watchword as we respond," he said.

The Secretary-General also noted that the country's security situation is at a "delicate juncture," and while conditions have deteriorated in recent months, indications of "new thinking and new commitment" from Afghanistan's international partners are reasons for cautious optimism.

Current political, security and development issues in the country will also be discussed at the International Conference on Afghanistan to be held in The Hague on 31 March. The meeting, which will be opened by Mr. Ban, follows similar events held previously in Bonn, London and Paris.

During a meeting today with Afghan Foreign Minister Dadfar Spanta, Mr. Ban said that today's meeting and next week's conference showed how strongly the international community was committed to Afghanistan. He added that he hoped the Afghan Government would seize this opportunity and move forward on stability, security and social and economic development.

The Secretary-General stressed that it was important for Afghanistan to maintain improved relations with neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan. The two also touched on the drug situation in Afghanistan and the need for transparent, democratic and fair elections later this year.

In his meeting with Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Secretary-General said he was horrified by today's bombing at a mosque in north-west Pakistan, and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

He noted that Pakistan has a crucial role to play in the Afghan peace process. A military solution is not enough in Afghanistan; a political and economic surge, and a comprehensive approach were needed, he said. He also thanked Pakistan for its contribution to UN peacekeeping.

Mr. Ban also met today with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and they discussed ways of further strengthening relations between the UN and Russia. They also talked about a range of international issues where Russia can play a leadership role, including Somalia, Sudan, climate change and the financial crisis.

Yesterday evening, he participated in a working dinner with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that focused mainly on Afghanistan, but also included discussion on, among other topics, Gaza, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kosovo, Georgia/Abkhazia, climate change and nuclear disarmament.

While in Moscow, the Secretary-General also delivered a wide-ranging lecture at an event organized by "International Affairs," the journal of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in which he highlighted the need for a "new global solidarity" at this time of global crisis.

Issues such as the global financial crisis, climate change and nuclear proliferation, are "big challenges, requiring big powers to cooperate more than ever before," he stated.
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GLOBAL CRISES, ENERGY, AFGHANISTAN TOP AGENDA AT UN-ORGANIZED CENTRAL ASIA FORUM

GLOBAL CRISES, ENERGY, AFGHANISTAN TOP AGENDA AT UN-ORGANIZED CENTRAL ASIA FORUM
New York, Mar 13 2009 7:01PM

The impact of the global financial crisis, problems concerning water and energy supplies and developments in Afghanistan were high on the agenda at a United Nations-organized seminar that brought Central Asian nations together to address current challenges.

The meeting was organized by the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), established in 2007 to help the countries of the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – respond more proactively to cross-border challenges and threats, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and environmental degradation, before they become costlier and more difficult to control.

The two-day meeting, which began on 10 March, brought together government officials, experts and academics, among others, to the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, for what a senior UN official called a "necessary and timely" gathering amid important developments in the world and in the region.

"The participants acknowledged that an individual approach is not a viable solution, that it is important to find shared solutions," Miroslav Jenca, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of UNRCCA, told the UN News Centre.

The need to work together in facing challenges was especially underscored in the context of dealing with the ongoing economic and financial crisis. Mr. Jenca noted that some countries might be tempted to find solutions taking into account their national interests only, and not considering the interests of the whole region.

Participants at the meeting, which also included representatives from Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Germany, Iran, Turkey, Russia, France, Slovakia and the United States, recognized this as a "dangerous tendency," he said, and they agreed that regional cooperation was vital in order to find viable solutions.

The impact of the global economic downturn has been felt in the region, especially in countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that are more integrated in the global economy, Mr. Jenca pointed out, while adding that "none of the countries in the region are immune against the crisis."

The effects have included the devaluation of national currencies and a curtailing of projects due to lack of funding. The downturn has also affected labour migration, with migrants being unable to find enough jobs in other countries, or if they can find jobs, they are being paid less, all of which lead to a decrease in remittances, he said.

In addition, problems related to water management and energy supplies are a major challenge for the region, which as a whole has enough water and enough energy. "The problem is how to find agreement among the five countries in order to use these resources for the benefit of all countries in the region," stated Mr. Jenca, who took up his post last June.

The Regional Centre is particularly active in the area of water and energy, which is one of its priority areas. At the same time, the Special Representative noted that the UN's role is to assist countries, not replace governments.

"The role of the leadership of the countries is extremely important in order to ensure sustainable development, and they bear primary responsibility for socio-economic development and also for addressing the crisis," he stated.
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NEW HEAD OF KEY REGIONAL SECURITY GROUP AFFIRMS VALUE OF COOPERATION WITH UN

NEW HEAD OF KEY REGIONAL SECURITY GROUP AFFIRMS VALUE OF COOPERATION WITH UN
New York, Feb 27 2009 5:00PM

Given the depth and quantity of challenges on the international community's agenda, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will continue to boost its partnership with the United Nation, its new Chairperson said today.

"When times are as challenging as they are, close cooperation between the Security Council and a key regional player such as the OSCE becomes all the more indispensable," Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, in her capacity of Chairperson-in-Office of the body, told the Council in a briefing.

She said that post-conflict field work, border issues, the fight against terrorism and crime and human rights concerns are among the 2009 Greek Chairmanship's priorities for the OSCE, the world's largest regional security organization under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter with 56 participating States that nearly circle the globe.

Discussions in Geneva, established following the 2008 conflict in Georgia and co-chaired by the OSCE, the UN and the European Union, were a major concern of her presentation. "The Geneva platform demonstrates the importance of cooperation between these three major actors. This is the only framework where all the parties to the conflict meet," she underlined.

In addition, she said the OSCE remains an important presence in Kosovo, where she called the organization's mission a pillar of the UN Mission known as UNMIK.

"My recent visit to Pristina strengthened my conviction that the OSCE Mission remains a stabilizing factor in Kosovo, ensuring continuity of international presence and maintaining good working relationships with all communities," she said.

Border security and policing, and deepening OSCE engagement with Afghanistan are also high on the Chairmanship's agenda, said Ms. Bakoyannis, citing initiatives to train Afghan experts on border management and security, counter-narcotic policing, customs management and travel document security.

"I am convinced that the OSCE, with its inclusive membership, expertise in police training and border management, and long experience in Central Asia, can make a realistic and meaningful contribution to the security of Afghanistan and its neighbourhood," she said.

OSCE work on the ground, reinforced by proposals for a renewed European security dialogue, "confirmed the OSCE as a unique platform," Ms. Bakoyannis stated, adding that its inclusive composition and signature concept of comprehensive security "remain unparalleled across the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian landscapes."

Given all the challenges present in those landscapes, as well as the global economic crisis, it is vital to further strengthen the partnership between the UN and the OSCE, she concluded, maintaining: "In such circumstances, it is our responsibility to consolidate the pillars of a rules-based international order."
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