The UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA): Closed Consultations
Tomorrow morning (29 July), Security Council members will convene for closed consultations to receive the biannual briefing on the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNRCCA Kaha Imnadze is the anticipated briefer.
Tomorrow’s meeting is likely to focus on UNRCCA’s preventive diplomacy activities, including its work on counter-terrorism, transboundary water management, border demarcation, and the women, peace and security (WPS) and youth, peace and security (YPS) agendas. UNRCCA is a special political mission (SPM) that focuses on the five Central Asian countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Imnadze is expected to brief Council members on his recent engagements with regional governments and international stakeholders, which have focused on strengthening cooperation in support of preventive diplomacy, regional stability, and sustainable development in Central Asia. Since the beginning of the year, he has undertaken a series of visits across and beyond the region—including to China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the US—where he met with senior government officials, parliamentarians, UN officials, and representatives of regional organisations, international financial institutions, and think tanks.
Discussions during these engagements focused on regional security and cooperation, including the implications of developments in Afghanistan and the Middle East for Central Asia, counter-terrorism and preventing violent extremism, transboundary water management, and broader geopolitical and socio-economic developments affecting the region. Imnadze also discussed avenues for strengthening cooperation among UNRCCA and regional governments, international partners, and organisations in support of preventive diplomacy and regional stability.
Tomorrow, Imnadze might highlight his participation in several regional forums aimed at advancing dialogue and cooperation on issues affecting Central Asia. On 4 June, he attended the second Termez Dialogue on Connectivity between Central and South Asia in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where discussions covered political dialogue, economic connectivity, climate adaptation, energy cooperation, and Afghanistan’s gradual integration into regional processes. On 12 June, he participated in the International Conference on Central Asia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which brought together deputy foreign ministers from SCO member states, representatives of the SCO’s secretariat and its Regional Anti-Terrorist structure, and regional and international organisations. On 15 June, Imnadze also took part in the eighth meeting of the Special Representatives and Envoys of the European Union and Central Asian Countries on Afghanistan.
Another expected topic of discussion at tomorrow’s meeting is UNRCCA’s work on the WPS and YPS agendas. Imnadze may highlight UNRCCA’s support for the Central Asia Women Leaders’ Caucus (CAWLC), an informal regional platform established in December 2020 to promote women’s participation and leadership in political, economic, and social life across Central Asia. On 21 April, Imnadze participated in the CAWLC’s first meeting under Uzbekistan’s chairpersonship this year, which brought together members from all five Central Asian states and marked Azerbaijan’s first participation in the platform. On 13 May, women leaders, scientists, parliamentarians, and representatives of international organisations from Central Asia and Azerbaijan gathered in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, for the fifth meeting of the CAWLC. The meeting concluded with the adoption of a joint statement establishing a regional network of women scientists to support joint research, facilitate knowledge exchange, and strengthen cross-border professional collaboration across Central Asia and Azerbaijan.
On 22 June, the Young Peacebuilders Cross-Border Initiative convened more than 30 participants from communities along the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in Fergana to promote dialogue, confidence-building, and cooperation across the valley. (The Fergana Valley, which spans the three countries, has historically been affected by unresolved border disputes and tensions over access to land, water, and transport routes.) The initiative is being implemented within the Fergana Peace Process, which seeks to sustain the momentum generated by the 13 March 2025 Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border treaty and the 31 March 2025 trilateral treaty defining the junction point of the three countries’ borders, together with the accompanying Khujand Declaration on Eternal Friendship. It also followed the inaugural Fergana Peace Forum, held in Fergana on 15 and 16 October 2025.
At tomorrow’s meeting, Imnadze may also highlight UNRCCA’s counter-terrorism activities, another key focus of the SPM’s work. On 20 April, UNRCCA and the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) organised a regional consultation and briefing on the Counter-Terrorism Early Warning Network for Central Asia initiative, which brought together government officials, think tank experts, and civil society representatives from the Central Asian countries. Representatives from the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team supporting the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee and from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) took part in the discussion. Participants noted that the situation in Afghanistan had become increasingly complex amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, including those involving Iran, and military clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan since October 2025.
Several Council members have shown growing interest in strengthening ties with Central Asia, contributing to increased diplomatic competition in the region. Between 27 and 29 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin conducted a state visit to Kazakhstan, where he held talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on bilateral trade and investment, industrial cooperation, energy, and transport and logistics. During the visit, the two countries signed an agreement on the construction and financing of Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant. The project, reportedly valued at approximately $16.5 billion, will be led by Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom.
On 25 July, Tokayev travelled to Omsk, Russia, where he again met Putin and participated in the 22nd Kazakhstan-Russia Interregional Cooperation Forum. During their meeting, Tokayev called for freezing the war in Ukraine and returning to negotiations under what he described as the “Istanbul formula 2.0”, stressing that the conflict must be brought to an end. (Russia and Ukraine held negotiations in Istanbul, Türkiye, shortly after Russia’s invasion in 2022 and resumed talks there in 2025, but neither round produced a breakthrough.)
Between 23 and 25 July, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Kyrgyzstan, where he attended a meeting of SCO foreign ministers and held separate talks with President Sadyr Japarov and Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev. During the meetings, Wang congratulated Kyrgyzstan for its election as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2027-2028 term and said that “China looks forward to strengthening coordination and cooperation with Kyrgyzstan on UN affairs”.
In recent months, US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor has conducted visits to all the Central Asian countries as part of Washington’s efforts to deepen engagement with the region. During these visits, he met senior government officials and discussed trade and investment, regional security, and cooperation through the C5+1 framework, while also promoting stronger commercial ties between the US and Central Asian countries. (The C5+1 framework is a regional diplomatic platform launched in 2015 that connects the US with the five Central Asian nations.) On 10 June, officials from the US and the five Central Asian countries convened in Astana, Kazakhstan, for a C5+1 dialogue on critical minerals, discussing ways to expand investment, promote technological cooperation, and strengthen critical mineral supply chains.
Security Council members have generally been supportive of the UNRCCA and consider it to be an important tool for promoting cooperation and diplomatic engagement in Central Asia. Before mid-2018, Council members regularly issued press statements expressing support for the UNRCCA and its work and encouraging increased cooperation and coordination among the Central Asian countries, the UNRCCA, and “relevant regional organisations”. Council members have been unable to agree on a press statement for the past seven years because of disagreements among the Council’s permanent members, particularly between Russia (the penholder on UNRCCA) and the US, over references to regional organisations such as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the SCO.
