13 June 2024 – Astana, Kazakhstan – CICA Deputy Secretary General Ms. Zhang Ling took part in the 4th Samarkand Forum on Human Rights “Environmental Challenges: The Future of Human Rights in a Changing World, Finding Sustainable Solutions.”
In her welcoming address to the forum, Ms. Zhang Ling emphasized the key values and main activities of CICA in terms of strengthening stability, peace and security in Asia, including through the implementation of the Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures. The forum participants were also informed about the upcoming Ministerial Conference on Environmental Issues, which will be held in August 2024 in Astana, at the initiative put forward by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Sixth CICA Summit in 2022.
The deputy head of the CICA Secretariat also noted that the CICA countries have a common interest in finding joint solutions to problems of protecting the environment and fundamental human rights. In this regard, the CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures, consisting of 18 priority areas and covering 5 dimensions, is unique in terms of providing a wide choice for the Member States to interact, cooperate and promote common goals based on the principles of consensus and voluntariness.
Ms. Zhang Ling informed the participants about the progress, achievements and measures taken by the CICA Member States in the human and environmental dimensions. She emphasized the important role played by Uzbekistan as the coordinator of confidence building measures in the human dimension.
The international forum in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, was attended by more than 100 participants, including heads of international organizations, government agencies, human rights ombudsmen and environmental experts from more than 20 countries and 10 international organizations.
