SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION ‘ESSENTIAL FORUM’

FOR ADDRESSING EURASIAN SECURITY, IN MESSAGE TO HEADS OF STATE

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), delivered by B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation, on 15 June:

I am delighted to convey greetings to the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on the occasion of its ninth meeting.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has become an essential forum for addressing security in Eurasia in all its dimensions -- political, economic, military and environmental.  The member States of the Organisation continue to gain valuable experience in dialogue and cooperation, and have strengthened the sense of collective responsibility for a common future in the region.

The commitment of the SCO to developing joint solutions to shared challenges is all the more significant today, as the world faces pressing, interconnected crises.  Food insecurity, poverty and climate change are being exacerbated by global financial and economic turmoil.  We also continue to grapple with the menaces of terrorism, armed conflict and instability.  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.

We at the United Nations welcome the readiness of the SCO to establish close ties.  I was pleased to attend the SCO Conference on Afghanistan in Moscow in April, which identified the regional challenges facing that country and its neighbours.  Through the United Nations Regional Centre for Central Asia, we can strengthen our cooperation on preventive diplomacy.  The series of meetings planned by the Regional Centre on implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia, culminating with a ministerial conference next year, could be an excellent vehicle for building our relationship.  Your observer status in the General Assembly offers an additional basis for intensifying our partnership.

The SCO member States have shown their combined commitment to a peaceful and prosperous common future.  I look forward our continued engagement, and I offer my best wishes for success in your timely and important deliberations.

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For information media • not an official record