Speech of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan at the General Debates of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

  

Honorable President,

Excellency Secretary General,

Distinguished delegates,

I at the onset extend warm words of congratulation to His Excellency Mr. Philémon Yang on his election as the President of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

My heartfelt thanks also go out to His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis in recognition of his fruitful engagement as the Presdient of the 78th Session of the UN GA.

Distinguished delegates,

Today the world is facing up to susceptible and intricate situations.

The controversial geopolitical processes, rapid weaponization, escalation of the “cold war”, armed conflicts, aftermath of climate change and other global jeopardies and threats will undoubtedly give rise to the long-term negative consequences.

In this context, it is critical more than ever that we consolidate joint efforts of the international community to protect security, maintain stability and ensure sustainable development.

Obviously, we can ensure lasting peace, harmonious life of mankind and prosperity of countries primarily on the basis of mutual understanding and constructive cooperation.

We ought to be united to achieve these objectives, bring all wars and conflicts to an end, as well as implement our peaceful goals.

It is high time now to take bold and effective steps forward to strengthen the key role of the United Nations in resolving conflicts and restoring peace and stability across the planet.

I in this regard would like to propose to adopt a special UN General Assembly Resolution declaring “The Decade of Promotion of Peace for Future Generations”.

As I have stated time and again, Tajikistan always advocates the solution of all conflicts only through political and diplomatic means.

At the same time, I would like to emphasize that the Republic of Tajikistan continues an uninterrupted, unwavering support of an implementation of the 2030 Agenda to achieve sustainable development goals.

It is worth noting, that the principal message of this Agenda is also reflected in Tajikistan National Development Strategy 2030, and continued efforts are being taken to achieve its set goals.

Nevertheless, the existence of a wide range of difficulties hinder the timely financing of sustainable development.

Challenges include security turmoil, economic and financial crises, unprecedented warming due to climate change and loss of biodiversity, as well as an outbreak of contagious diseases.

In a political declaration recently adopted by the General Assembly, Member States have admitted that “the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals is in threat”.

According to the UN Secretary General's report, the international community will be capable to achieve only 17% of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

We are witnessing the setbacks in results achieved within the Sustainable Development Goals in many developing countries.

In view of this, we need to intensify our efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda in a timely manner and pay particular attention to the financing for sustainable development.

We do also believe that the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), scheduled to be held in Spain in July 2025 as per the UN General Assembly Resolution, will play a crucial role in exploring new approaches to remove barriers to financing for development.

Necessarily, the activities of the international financial and economic system should meet the needs of developing countries so that it can facilitate the timely counterresponse of member states to modern threats and challenges.

In that context, in order to implement the goals and programmes outlined, we believe it is important to continue financing countries in need by international financial institutions, especially through the International Development Association.

Digital technologies and artificial intelligence pave the suitable ways for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Tajikistan is taking effective and necessary measures for the gradual transition to digitalization system by adopting the national strategy and relevant conceptual legal acts.

In this respect, I propose to the General Assembly to adopt at its upcoming session a Special Resolution on the RAole of Artificial Intelligence in Creating New Opportunities for Socio-Economic Development and Acceleration of the SDG achievement in Central Asia.

Tajikistan recognizes the importance of the “Summit of the Future” held in the framework of the current session of the UN General Assembly.

The intergovernmental document - “The Pact for the Future” adopted during the Summit, plays a key role in ensuring peace, security and sustainable development, and we welcome the willingness of the international community to implement this Pact.

This Pact was adopted at a time when millions of civilians are exposed to security risks and dangers in different regions around the world.

We reckon that the international community must take joint and effective actions to withstand the threats of terrorism and extremism, radicalism, cybercrime, trafficking in narcotics and weapons smuggling, and other manifestations of transnational crime.

Furthermore, the rise of Islamophobia, as well as the trend of practicing “double standard” policy in international relations in recent years has become a matter of concern.

Our country, constantly carries out joint actions in cooperation with the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as well as other international partners to counter security threats and challenges.

Consequently, Tajikistan and the State of Kuwait in cooperation with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), will hold the next High-level Conference in the framework of the “Dushanbe Process on Counter-Terrorism” in Kuwait this November.

We believe, that this platform will mainly focus on the subjects related to the persistence of inclusive security and stability, and contribute to the continuation of an extended and trustful dialogue, as well as the exchange of helpful experience and ideas.

Ladies and gentlemen,

On security matters, I would like to emphasize that the Palestinian crisis remains a matter of deep concern to our country.

Today's tragic situation in that region once again proves that there is no military solution to the Palestinian case.

Tajikistan believes, that an ultimate and tangible solution to this conflict is possible only through the implementation of the United Nations resolutions on recognition of an Independent State of Palestine based on 1967 borders.

We hope, that conflicting parties will take actions for a ceasefire deal and arrange the peace negotiations, and the international community will take effective steps to restore the lasting stability in Palestine.

Moreover, we uphold the establishment of enduring peace and stability, as well as economic and social development in neighbouring Afghanistan.

To this end, Tajikistan is always ready to accord its assistance in the revival and development of wide range of sectors of peaceful life in Afghanistan.

Subsequently, I repeatedly call on the international community to spare no effort to help the long-suffering people of Afghanistan, including regions affected by natural disasters, to prevent a humanitarian crisis in this country.

Honorable delegates,

It has been more than a year since the UN Water Conference 2023.

According to the reports of relevant United Nations agencies, progress in water supply and sanitation, despite some improvements, does not meet our expectations.

As a result, Tajikistan, as a champion country, actively cooperates with all stakeholders to implement the commitments stemming from the “Water Action Agenda” of the United Nations Water Conference - 2023.

Successful accomplishment of these and other water-related commitments and goals will depend on effective multi-stakeholder partnerships that ensure integrated and systematic, coherent approaches.

In this regard, it is important for us to take advantage of the Dushanbe Water Process platform to monitor the outcomes of the United Nations Water Conference - 2023.

We believe, that the Dushanbe Water Process will play a pivotal role as a platform for a broad inclusive dialogue of stakeholders for comprehensive preparation for the United Nations Water Conference in Dushanbe in 2028.

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished participants,

In the backdrop of climate change impacts, the international community needs to work on collective approaches and initiatives in the proper use of natural resources and the relentless activities of various fields of human life.

In recent years, the natural disasters along with a series of droughts cause enormous damage to the agriculture, environment and economies of developing countries in general.

Being 93% of its territory covered by mountains, Tajikistan is also vulnerable to climate change due to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters.

Natural disasters annually bring damage to the national economy of Tajikistan worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and unfortunately, in many cases they cause death toll.

Climate change is causing the accelerated melting of glaciers and the reduction of the water volume of rivers in different parts of the world, including Central Asia.

This process has a negative impact on real sectors of the national economy, such as energy, industry and agriculture.

To date, more than 1,000 out of 14,000 of Tajikistan's glaciers, which are the main source of drinking water in the region, have completely melted, and the pace of their melting is dramatically increasing.

This is despite the fact that precipitation and glaciers of Tajikistan make up to 60% of the source of water resources in Central Asia.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly’s declaration of 2025 as the “International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation” at the initiative of Tajikistan provides a suitable basis for developing cooperation among stakeholders.

Pursuant to this UNGA Resolution, March 21 was declared as the “World Glaciers’ Day”, and an International Trust Fund to promote the Glaciers Preservation was established under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General.

Congruently, the first High-Level International Conference on the Glaciers will be hosted in Dushanbe, Tajikistan next year.

Taking this opportunity, we call on partner countries and organizations to actively participate and contribute to the arrangement of this Conference.

We believe, that this important international conference which is scheduled to be held in cooperation with UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization, will play an effective role in assessing the global glacier problems and exploring specific approaches for their solutions.

Alongside with this, we invite all partners to financially contribute to the “International Glaciers’ Trust Fund”.

It is worth highlighting, that to further advance the glaciers’ preservation agenda, Tajikistan, together with France, has put forward another initiative to declare 2025-2034 the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences.

Our country has adopted the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change 2030 based on its international obligations, including provisions of aris Agreement.

Evidently, one of the ways to successfully mitigate the problems related to climate change is the development of "green economy", which in turn calls for development of “green energy”.

Considering the importance of this reality, our country has approved and currently implementing the Green Economy Development Strategy for 2023–2037.

We currently produce 98% of our electricity from the country’s hydropower resources, and we are ranked the sixth in the world in terms of the share of “green energy” produced from renewable sources.

The goal of the implementation of our plans in this direction is to turn Tajikistan into a "green country" by 2037.

Today, finding solutions to the daily issues of adaptation to climate change and reducing the severity of its negative consequences is considered one of the top priorities for the international community.

We hope that developed countries, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, influential international financial institutions and other international and regional multilateral entitities will further continue to pay serious attention to these pressing issues.

We are convinced, that the international community succeeds to achieve its common goals and objectives through the development of trustful dialogue, mutual understanding and constructive cooperation.

I thank you for your attention.

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