DUSHANBE, December 8, Asia-Plus – The United Nations announced Friday that it would inaugurate a central Asian center for preventive diplomacy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan next week.

The United Nations'' Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) aims to assist regional governments in working together to tackle common challenges such as terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and environmental degradation.

UNRCCA, a joint initiative by the world body and all five central Asian countries -- Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- is to be inaugurated in Ashgabat on Monday at the start of a two-day conference on international cooperation in preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution.

The meeting is to be hosted by Turkmenistan''s President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and attended by foreign ministers of all five central Asian states, a UN statement said.

UN Under-Secretary General for political affairs Lynn Pascoe is to deliver an inaugural message on behalf of UN chief Ban Ki-moon at the ceremony.

The center is to work closely with the existing UN programs and agencies in the area, as well as with regional organizations such the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security bloc.

UNRCCA, which is to be headed by a senior representative of the UN secretary general, will have an initial budget of 2.3 million dollars (1.6 million euros) and a small international staff, the statement said.