OSCE Secretary General to visit Turkmenistan

VIENNA, 1 March 2024 - OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid will visit Turkmenistan from 4 to 6 March for meetings with the Ministers of Environment from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and with the Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In Ashgabat, the Secretary General will engage with the high-level officials at a strategic discussion organized and hosted by the government of Turkmenistan. This discussion will focus on the implications of climate change for security and stability in Central Asia and the complex challenges the region faces in such areas as transboundary water management, energy security, sustainable connectivity, disaster risk reduction and others.

The meeting is part of continuing efforts following the OSCE High-Level Conference on Climate Change hosted by the Secretary General last July at which participating States discussed the potential implications of climate change for security and stability in the OSCE area, and how the OSCE has been effective in tackling climate change through concrete projects. The meeting in Ashgabat will offer Central Asian participating States a forum to lay out key opportunities to foster regional co-operation to address these challenges and discuss how the OSCE can support these efforts.

During her visit, Secretary General Schmid will also have a bilateral programme, including a meeting with the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

With OSCE Field Operations being present in every Central Asian country, the Secretary General will also chair the annual gathering of the Heads of these Field Operations. The meeting will examine not only the work of each Mission and the impact of OSCE projects in the respective States, but also look for ways to improve regional cooperation to achieve greater benefits for the nearly 79 million people in Central Asia.