The regional seminar titled “Role of Parliaments in Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia” took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on December 12-14.

The event was organized by the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) as part of strategic dialogues on security related topics, organized in Central Asia regular since 2009.   

According to UNRCCA, the seminar gathered Central Asian parliamentarians and staff of parliamentary administrations, experts of institutes of strategic research, and representatives of regional inter - parliamentary structures.

During the seminar participants became more familiar with preventive diplomacy tools and techniques, especially with regards to monitoring, early warning and conflict prevention. 

Parliaments are playing an important role in conflict prevention, peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction and have the potential to initiate and promote mediation and negotiation efforts, dialogue and build consensus on a broad range of issues. These core functions allow them to naturally play an important role in advancing preventive diplomacy.

The event provided an opportunity to exchange experiences and good practices among parliamentarians in the region on how they, as individual MPs and officials of parliaments administrations, address internal and external threats to security and stability, through specific parliamentary tools, mechanisms and platforms.

Participation in this event of representatives of the regional inter-parliamentary structures, such as parliamentary assemblies of CIS and Turkic-speaking countries, contributed to strengthening inter-parliamentary cooperation and further promoting the concept preventive diplomacy and its application in the region.

Located in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, UNRCCA was inaugurated in December 2007 to help the region’s countries respond more proactively to cross-border challenges and threats before they can become costlier and more difficult to control.

The Center is tasked with assisting the governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in building capacities to peacefully prevent conflict, in facilitating dialogue, and in catalyzing international support behind projects and initiatives.