Youth Voices from Central Asia and Afghanistan Un75 and Regional Peace and Security
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YOUTH VOICES FROM CENTRAL ASIA AND AFGHANISTAN UN75 AND REGIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY UNRCCA PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY ACADEMY YOUTH VOICES FROM CENTRAL ASIA AND AFGHANISTAN- UN75 AND REGIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 FOREWORD BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE NATALIA GHERMAN 8 KAZAKHSTAN – Dulat Abdisamat 12 KAZAKHSTAN – Zhanna Turgumbaeva 16 KAZAKHSTAN – Assem Zayeva 20 KYRGYZSTAN – Umut Asylbekova 25 KYRGYZSTAN – Chyngyz Israyilov 28 KYRGYZSTAN – Aliya Zholdoshbekova 32 TAJIKISTAN – Aliyor Boynazarov 36 TAJIKISTAN – Alisho Mirzoshirinov 40 TAJIKISTAN – Saodat Usmonova 44 TURKMENISTAN – Bekniyaz Begliyev 48 TURKMENISTAN – Shukurgeldi Myradov 52 TURKMENISTAN – Kristina Orlova 56 UZBEKISTAN – Mokhinur Bosakova DISCLAIMER: 60 UZBEKISTAN – Mukhammad Sayfiddinov This publication collects the winning essays from the essay contest 64 UZBEKISTAN – Shakhodat Obidova “Youth Voices from Central Asia and Afghanistan – UN75 and Regional 68 AFGHANISTAN – Zakria Fazil Peace and Security,” organized by the United Nations Regional Centre for 72 AFGHANISTAN – Salwa Nezami Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). The views expressed 78 AFGHANISTAN – Mariam Abdul Shukur Shukuri in the essays are those of the respective author, and do not necessarily reflect those of UNRCCA or the United Nations. 82 REPUBLIC OF KOREA – Taehwan Kim 4 5 2020 also marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, and so we have combined our essay contest and the second Government- Youth Dialogue with the global UN75 initiative. All year, the Organization has been striving to build a global partnership with a wide range of people all over the world to realize their shared aspirations for a just, peaceful and sustainable future. Through our work, we are ensuring that the youth of Central Asia and Afghanistan have had the opportunity to contribute as well. More than half of the population of Central Asia and Afghanistan is made up of people under the age of 30. These young people represent a vital resource for each of their countries and for the region as a whole. Governments – with the support of the United Nations and the rest of the international community – must all work together to help them develop their potential. Investing in young people is critical to ensuring that the countries of the region succeed in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and improving the lives of everyone in the region – and beyond. And the fact that we are all living through such tremendous disruptions caused by the ongoing global pandemic only makes this all the more urgent. I firmly believe that it is impossible for UNRCCA to fulfil its mandate to help the countries of this region solve common challenges through the tools of preventive diplomacy without engaging young people. Young people are often Dear Reader, called the “leaders of tomorrow.” But they are also leaders today. By working with young people across the region, we can all contribute to ensuring a culture of It is a pleasure to share with you this collection of essays written by the winners peace and prevention throughout Central Asia and Afghanistan. of our competition, “Youth Voices from Central Asia and Afghanistan – UN75 and Regional Peace and Security.” In it, you will find visions for the future by For our part, we hope that the Government-Youth Dialogue for Central Asia and 19 young people from around the region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan will continue to be a permanent platform for this essential interaction, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. supported by UNRCCA, that can offer new opportunities, new ideas, new con- nections and new political space in each of the countries and the region overall. I hope you will agree that these young people have done an excellent job of highlighting some of the key regional issues in Central Asia while also proposing Please, dear reader, join me in welcoming class 2020 of Youth Ambassadors for solutions and – in many cases – underlying work they are already undertaking to Preventive Diplomacy! help improve the world around them. The essay contest was run in the context of the UNRCCA Preventive Diplomacy Natalia Gherman, Academy, an initiative my office launched in 2019 to help develop the enormous Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia, potential of young people to support peace and security in the region and to Head of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy promote the implementation of the Youth, Peace and Security agenda in Central for Central Asia (UNRCCA) Asia and Afghanistan at the regional level. Our work in 2019 culminated in the first-ever Government-Youth Dialogue for Central Asia and Afghanistan, the very first regional platform for such interaction. In Tashkent, young people from all six countries presented their concerns and their ideas to their respective Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs, each of whom returned to their capitals with extremely positive impressions of the experience. For their part, our participants returned home as Youth Ambassadors for Preventive Diplomacy and I am gratified that so many of them continue to use the information and skills they acquired in our programme in their studies, work and daily lives. In 2020, our essay contest winners participated in the second Government-Youth Dialogue for Central Asia and Afghanistan, which due to the ongoing global pandemic was held on a virtual platform. Nevertheless, it represented a unique opportunity for young people to make their voices heard by policy makers at a high level. 6 7 DULAT ABDISAMAT, 20 Taraz, Zhambyl Province, Kazakhstan We, the youth, as the “future of the world,” have always held a particular value. The development of the younger generation, its participation in society and its development depend on State policy, but also on personal initiative. Currently, young people play an important role in the development of any country, as they determine the future development of the society as a whole. For example, nation-wide organizations such as the “League of Volunteers,” the “Alliance of Students of Kazakhstan,” the military-patriotic movement “ZhasSarbaz,” the youth party “ZhasOtan” and many more have been formed in Kazakhstan. Every year, hundreds of young people across the country join these organizations. Each one Each State that invests in youth is investing of them has their own creative solutions to issues related to youth and in the modern development of the country ways to make youth develop an active life position. The ways of solving issues related to youth differ in each country, but ways of achieving and the world. the final goal remain the same, which makes them also creative. The exchange of experience and ideas among young people from different countries helps to improve work in the field of youth policy and opens up new opportunities for young people. Each State that invests in youth simultaneously invests in the modern development of the country and the world. DULAT ABDISAMAT, 20 We must not forget about the international organizations that promote peace Taraz, Zhambyl Province, Kazakhstan and security today. One of them is the UN, dealing with global problems. There are also structural divisions of the UN involved in the development of youth programmes for increasing the potential of the younger generation. One of them is the UNRCCA Preventive Diplomacy Academy initiative. 9 I was a participant from Kazakhstan in the UNRCCA Preventive Diplomacy Photos from our project “Jas turist” implemented with Academy in 2019. The start of the first event of the project was in my the UNRCCA Preventive hometown Taraz on 7 October 2019 and is vividly captured in my memory. Diplomacy Academy project This was my first experience participating in an international seminar with youth from the city of Talas from neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. During the three-day seminar led by wonderful trainers we studied the concept of preventive diplomacy and how to apply strategies for conflict prevention in our daily life. In addition, working in teams with other active young people, we mastered our leadership skills, intercultural communication and the basics of managing youth projects. We were also given the opportunity to develop our own project proposals and implement them by receiving small grants. My team of four people developed a project dedicated to the prevention of interethnic conflicts in our region. The “Jas turist” project provided opportunities for cultural exchange with the neighbouring county project to prevent interethnic conflicts in our region. By investing in youth, to prevent and resolve possible conflicts that might occur between foreign the State and various organizations are able to develop in youth their high students. We managed to implement this project with great success and civic activity and, patriotism, and neutralize destructive ideas. This is how I secure its outcomes for the future. see the way of developing the role of young people in modern society! After the end of the youth seminars, UNRCCA invited the most active participants to take part in the first youth-Government dialogue in Central Asia and Afghanistan, which took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In order to prepare us for the high-level meeting, we were invited to the UN regional office in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to participate in a series of preparatory trainings. We received training in public speaking and had very productive team work with youth representatives from all of the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan. During the cultural events, we learned more about the national traditions and customs of our countries. And we were also given the opportunity to prove ourselves and bring our messages to the attention of the Deputy Foreign Ministers of the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan at the annual high-level meeting. I think that we, the youth, have fulfilled the hopes of the UNRCCA Preventive Diplomacy Academy, and especially those of the Head of UNRCCA, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Asia, Ms.