Ambassador Tuula Yrjola, Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, says that with the adoption of the OSCE Permanent Council Decision on June 1, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan will transform into the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe from July 1, 2017.  The new mandate reportedly reflects the political agreement of the fifty-seven OSCE participating States, and is based on the wish of the Government of Tajikistan to examine the mandate of the Office which was last re-negotiated in 2008. The negotiations on the text of the mandate were conducted between the current Austrian Chairmanship of the OSCE and the Government of Tajikistan.

According to Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, the new mandate will provide the Programme Office in Dushanbe with the opportunity to continue working in the three OSCE dimensions: politico-military, economic and environmental, as well as human dimension.  “Now that the mandate has been adopted, I hope to have the opportunity to shortly enter into discussions with the Government of Tajikistan on our future programming. After all, the Office implements its mandate through projects that are agreed with the Host Country,” Ambassador Yrjola noted.

The new mandate no longer mentions the five field offices that exist in the regions of Tajikistan and this will mean some amount of restructuring for the Office.  However, OSCE Office will continue to be able to implement projects in the field, in the various regions of Tajikistan, in the future as well. It is in the regions and in some of the remoter areas where the Office can continue to support the Government of Tajikistan in addressing vulnerabilities, be they related to socio-economic conditions or countering radicalization.   

“I believe that we are at the beginning of a newly positive and beneficial relationship between the Host Country and the OSCE mission in Tajikistan. The Office is looking to build on the successes of more than 20 years of cooperation with the Government and civil society of Tajikistan. And as I had the opportunity to be personally involved back in 2008 on the side of the then Chairmanship of Finland, when the mandate was last revised, I have confidence that the Office will emerge strengthened out of this process, to the benefit of the Host Country and the OSCE,” Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan said.

Tajikistan faces economic challenges and has paid particular attention to the development of the economy in a socially and ecologically sustainable manner in the country’s National Development Strategy. The Office has supported the Host Country in various ways toward these ends, in particular to mitigate the effects of reduced remittances and unemployment, and the socio-economic consequences thereof.  “I expect that we will continue to work on these issues in the future as well, strengthening our cooperation further with the relevant Government authorities.” Ms.Yrjola noted.

The Office has reportedly also worked closely with the authorities to develop policy measures and to raise awareness of the population concerning radicalization and violent extremism.  “We have worked on a number of rule of law and human rights related as well as gender projects, together with the authorities and the civil society. Again, I expect that we will continue to work on these issues, as they are of importance to the Government and citizens of Tajikistan,” Ambassador Yrjola said.

Other areas of importance that will continue to keep Office engaged in the future, are, for example, humanitarian de-mining as well as border security and management.  The Office has good cooperation with the Border Troops of the Government of Tajikistan, among other government agencies that it works with to support stability and security in the country.

“I should mention one of our flagship projects, the Border Management Staff College (BMSC), which is an OSCE wide institution that trains not only Tajik, but also Afghan, other Central Asian, and OSCE wide participating States’ and OSCE’s partners’ border officials in important matters related to border management and security. Tajikistan’s geographically central location in relation to the stability of the entire region means that Tajikistan, and the OSCE Office, will continue to be able to play an important part in securing the borders and preventing the flow of illicit goods and activities regionally,” Ambassador Yrjola noted, adding that she looks at the new mandate as an opportunity to refresh Office’s relationship with the Host Country.