CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Madame Chair,
I join others in welcoming Ambassador Valeriu Chiveri to the Permanent Council and thank him for his report.
The report describes a long list of activities in Tajikistan and areas of cooperation between the Program Office and the Tajik authorities. The successful cooperation underlines that our field missions continue to be OSCE’s most valuable assets. We are particularly pleased with the substantial efforts made to prevent and counter violent extremism and terrorism. The “whole of society”-approach, which engages local communities and teachers, raises the effectiveness of these efforts. The Program Office has also made good use of handbooks and material developed by the OSCE and UNESCO to help ensure that all responses to violent extremism and terrorism comply with all our human rights commitments.
We have noted the increased interest in regional cooperation between several of the Central Asian countries. The Program Office’s cooperation with its counterpart in Bishkek is something we believe should be further developed within existing mandates and host countries’ priorities.
The Border Management Staff College has recently marked its tenth anniversary. We are proud to be a close partner and supporter of the college and its operations. The ongoing training and capacity building contribute in a very practical way to our common security.
Norway is also pleased to see that the Program Office gives serious attention to its work on gender. Even more so, as we understand this to be in line with the host country’s priorities and expressed wishes. Empowering women in politics, support to the Women’s Resource Centres and focusing on gender mainstreaming in police reform are activities we would like to see continued. The awareness of gender parity, and the lack of it, in project activities are also to be commended. Nonetheless, we would like to see increased attention given to gender mainstreaming across all the Program Office’s activities and reporting. Better integration of a gender perspective across activities will improve the office’s ability to achieve the mission objectives.
Thank you
Norway's statement in Response to the Head of the Program Office in Dushanbe.pdf