OSCE Tashkent Centre to host meeting of Central Asian Youth Network

TASHKENT, 29 June 2005 - Thirty-five university students from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will meet on Friday in Charvak, some 90 km from Tashkent, to improve their skills in teamwork, political engagement, research writing, as well as in sports.

Hosted by the OSCE Centre in Tashkent, the three-day event is part of the activities of the Central Asian Youth Network (CAYN), which aims to help in conflict prevention by bringing together university students and discussing OSCE principles and commitments.

"We want to build and strengthen cross-border links between the young people of Central Asia," said Ambassador Miroslav Jenca, the Head of the OSCE Centre.

"We are convinced that bringing students together for joint research activities will help prevent conflicts and promote good relations among the peoples of the region."

Experts from the OSCE Centre in Tashkent, UNESCO and the American Bar Association will focus on political-military, economic, environmental, democratisation and rule of law issues in Central Asia.

CAYN was launched in May 2004 by the five OSCE centres in Almaty, Ashgabad, Bishkek, Dushanbe and Tashkent.

The activities of the Network include seminars, workshops, conferences, group research work and online discussions on its own portal, www.cayn.net.

In February the Network held a seminar in Kyrgyzstan.