CICA Deputy Secretary General Zhang Ling participated in the 7th North & Central Asia Multistakeholder Forum on SDGs, which was organized by the Subregional Office for North and Central Asia (SONCA) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The Forum was designed to enable conversations and deliberations involving senior government officials, UN bodies, various organizations, businesses, civil society, think tanks, academic institutions, and other parties. It offered an exceptional opportunity to exchange information about SDG implementation initiatives and emphasize key priorities and successful approaches within the subregion. 5 SDGs were covered and discussed across 6 sessions of the forum.
CICA Deputy Secretary General Zhang Ling input her remarks during the SDG17 session. In her remarks, she covered CICA's transformation into a regional international organization, launched at the Sixth CICA Summit in 2022. Ms. Zhang Ling underscored the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's innovative initiative to host the CICA High-level Environmental Conference in 2024 in Astana to discuss the region's environmental problems and sustainable development of the region. Further, she stressed the significance of promoting collaboration and partnerships as essential tools for addressing global challenges and regional stability.
Zhang Ling highlighted the SDG-focused event organized by the Kazakh Chairmanship of the CICA in conjunction with the CICA Secretariat earlier this year in the United Nations Headquarters. Additionally, she emphasized CICA's plan to hold a side event on the margins of the Eightieth Commission session of ESCAP in 2024.
