Tajikistan, 2006

It

gives me great pleasure to join in the warm

congratulations to Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa

upon her assumption of the office of President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-first session. We are

confident that her extensive professional and life

experience will be instrumental in addressing the issues

faced by the General Assembly.

Tajikistan also welcomes the accession of

Montenegro to the United Nations. On this occasion,

on behalf of the Government of our country, I would

like to extend our sincere congratulations to the

Government and people of that friendly State.

A year has passed since the historic Summit

confirmed the common views of the international

community on the key issues of our time and on the

United Nations as the universal international

Organization whose goals and objectives are focused

on the collective search for answers to the questions of

concern to the entire international community. The

leaders of our States declared that only strict

compliance with the United Nations Charter, a

comprehensive collective approach and mutual trust

can ensure international security and development. The

latest developments in the Middle East have proved

once again the need to enhance the coordinating role of

the United Nations in addressing global and regional

issues.

Tajikistan is in favour of further strengthening the

United Nations and lends its overall support to the

process of its ongoing reform. As for Security Council

reform, it should be undertaken by consensus, with due

consideration for the interests of all Member States.

We believe that it was broad consensus that made

possible such major accomplishments as the holding of

the first session of the Human Rights Council, the

launching of the Democracy Fund and the

establishment of the Central Emergency Response

Fund. Of special importance was the establishment of

the Peacebuilding Commission, whose objective is also

to sustain peace and development in post-conflict

countries.

The Government of Tajikistan was among those

that actively advocated the establishment of an

efficient United Nations body of that kind — one that

would focus on issues of coordination and targeted

support for countries emerging from armed conflict.

Tajikistan’s painful but ultimately successful transition

from civil war to peace convincingly demonstrated the

need for an international peacebuilding agency to assist

the Security Council and other United Nations bodies

06-53341 12

in their efforts to accelerate the rehabilitation of

countries emerging from crisis and to create guarantees

for the non-recurrence of such conflicts.

Stable peace prevails in Tajikistan today, and

national accord and respect for political pluralism have

been achieved. The complex process of establishing

democracy is under way, and all political forces

involved are aware of their ever-increasing

responsibility for the fate of our country. In compliance

with the Constitution and valid legal procedures, new

effective Government institutions are being

successfully built. Respect for the law is increasingly

the rule rather than the exception. Civil society is

developing at an accelerated pace. Citizens determine

their own destiny through active participation in the

life of the State. The forthcoming presidential

elections, scheduled for November 2006, will be an

important milestone on the road towards peace and will

open a new page in the history of the establishment of

Tajik statehood.

In Tajikistan, as in the majority of United Nations

Member States, the issue of sustainable development

ranks among our top priorities. Today, we are fully

aware of how instrumental the United Nations agenda

has been in enhancing sustainable development and

eradicating poverty, epidemics, famine and illiteracy

the world over. At the same time, the implementation

of a large-scale programme to achieve the Millennium

Development Goals will require not only extra effort,

but also considerable financing. In that regard, we

expect tangible results from the work of the

Commission on Sustainable Development and the

High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development.

In that connection, we highly value the outcome

of the United Nations High-level Dialogue recently

held in New York, which helped States concerned with

issues of migration to reach constructive mutual

understanding. Migration has been an issue of vital

importance to our country since the outbreak of the

civil war, when a part of the Tajik population had to

leave the country. I would like to emphasize the special

role and capacity of the United Nations in

strengthening international cooperation in the field of

migration and development. In this regard, Tajikistan is

resolved to achieve as much progress as possible in

implementing the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs). In recent years, tangible progress has been

achieved in the implementation of a number of goals,

and the foundation has been laid for enhancing efforts

in this area.

But long-term stability in Central Asia in the

years to come is inseparable from the development of

regional integration.

Currently, vast opportunities are emerging in the

Central Asian region for the implementation of large-

scale economic projects, the creation of a unified

market of commodities and services and the

establishment of conditions for attracting capital

investment. Potential foreign investors see Central Asia

as a single entity; and, primarily, as a common market.

Economic integration will become a powerful

factor in the sustainable development of the region and

will bring about the reduction of poverty and the

improvement of well-being. For this reason, Tajikistan

will continue to stand for strengthening of ties and the

expansion of mutually advantageous cooperation

among the States of the region.

The current positive processes in Afghanistan

also create favourable conditions for regional

cooperation in implementing transportation and

communication projects which will provide the region

with access to the southern seaports. The creation of

new multi-modal transport corridors and the revival of

the Great Silk Road routes will form a unified

interconnected system of communications and make it

possible for Central Asian States to gain access to

promising markets.

It is also obvious that in many respects the

attainment of the MDGs depends on assistance

rendered by the international community to developing

countries. Tajikistan joins the request addressed to the

donor community to at least double the amount of

assistance provided for the purposes of long-term

development. The process of exchanging the debts of

developing countries for national projects in the field

of sustainable development remains an urgent issue.

One of our planet’s major assets is the fresh water

indispensable for sustaining life. Our common goal in

this respect is to develop qualitatively new patterns for

the sustainable management of water resources and for

addressing water-related economic issues at the

national, regional and international levels. This can be

achieved through a combination of appropriate support

from the international community and national efforts,

13 06-53341

with the leading role being played by countries and

regions faced with the water-resource problems.

In this regard, Tajikistan hopes for the continued

active involvement of the Member States in the

activities of the International Decade for Action,

“Water for Life”, 2005-2015, including the successful

holding of the International Freshwater Forum in

Dushanbe in 2010. In order to coordinate activities in

this area the Government of Tajikistan is establishing

the National Water Committee. It will monitor progress

and develop effective ways of attaining the goals of the

water Decade at the national, regional and global levels

through cooperation with the countries and

international organizations concerned. Our efforts in

the area of water are part and parcel of the strategic

programme for the attainment of the MDGs.

It is well known that international terrorism,

transnational organized crime and illegal drug

trafficking obstruct sustainable development. Tajikistan

believes that the United Nations and its Security

Council provide a unique opportunity for the

development and implementation of joint measures to

confront international terrorism and the narcotics

threat. We entirely support the report of the Secretary-

General entitled “Uniting against terrorism:

recommendations for a global counter-terrorism

strategy”, and we view the outlined principles for

confronting new challenges and risks as major

instruments for counteracting those threats.

The response of the international community to

the complex strategic threat of terrorism must also be

comprehensive. The community of nations must

intensify its efforts to counteract the instigation of acts

of terror, the spread of terrorism ideology, extremism

and separatism, religious and ethnic intolerance and

hostility, and the financing of terrorism.

Universalizing and improving an international

legal framework to counter terrorism remains an urgent

issue. The speedy approval of the draft comprehensive

convention on international terrorism will serve the

interests of all countries and peoples in the United

Nations community. Tajikistan will continue to support

the strengthening of the United Nations as the core

institution in this area.

The global system for counteracting terrorism

currently being shaped cannot be established without

the involvement of regional and subregional

organizations. This should be taken into account when

adopting measures aimed at combating any

manifestations of extremism and violence at the

regional and global levels. We regard participation of

regional structures in this process as one of the major

prerequisites for ensuring collective security. Among

the structures of this nature in our region are the

Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective

Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai

Cooperation Organization.

We believe that long-term success in combating

terrorism and religious extremism depends on the

elimination of the deep-rooted causes of these negative

phenomena, generated by social and economic

problems in the society. Prevention of illegal drug

trafficking, which, to a certain extent, serves as a

breeding ground for terrorism and international crime,

must become part and parcel of our common struggle

against terrorism. In this regard I would like to

reiterate that Tajikistan is prepared to continue a

constructive dialogue and cooperation with the aim of

establishing an efficient global partnership to

counteract the narcotics threat.

It must be said that current efforts at

counteracting the narcotics threat are not sufficiently

effective. For this reason, we believe that financial and

technical assistance to Afghanistan, to be rendered

within targeted programmes, and the creation of a

modern, efficient and capable Afghan border service to

safeguard the external borders, including the Afghan-

Tajik border, would be a worthy application of the

efforts of the international community in this area.

Also, within the anti-narcotics partnership, we suggest

enhanced interaction with the Afghan structures with

the purpose of adopting joint measures to prevent drug

trafficking across the Afghan-Tajik border. We are

convinced that these measures could serve as a basis

for the proposed establishment of the first section of

the security belt around Afghanistan. Involvement in

the constructive process of Afghanistan’s neighbours

and factoring in the regional aspects of the post-

conflict rehabilitation of that country may well be key

to the success of the efforts undertaken by the

international community.

Today, the regional dimension becomes one of

the key factors of long-term development. Broad and

constructive regional economic cooperation in Central

Asia, which possesses considerable natural resources,

is of particular importance at the present juncture. We

believe that achieving that goal could enable Central

06-53341 14

Asia to become self-sufficient in terms of energy, fuel

and food supply and a dynamic, developing region of

the world. Therefore, we believe that the achievement

of the MDGs should hold a place in the new structure

of global security currently being shaped, and become

one of the tools for addressing new challenges and

threats. Today, as never before, it is becoming

increasingly obvious that a security policy needs to be

integrated into development.

The scale of the challenges facing the

international community dictates the need to further

strengthen our Organization. There is no doubt that we

must do everything we can to make the United Nations

more effective in dealing with issues of international

security. The collective approach should keep us from

making hasty and emotional decisions, since we are

dealing with the Organization responsible for

collective security, sustainable development and

protection of human rights. It is with the United

Nations, despite some of its imperfections, that

humanity places its hope for a peaceful and just world

order, for tangible achievements in the fields of

combating poverty and natural disasters. A responsible

attitude towards the United Nations is in the interests

of each and every Member State.