2017-11-20

The 5th Alumni Conference on Central Asia: Comprehensive Security and Sustainable Development

On 18-19 November the OSCE Academy has conducted the 5th Alumni Conference on Comprehensive Security and Sustainable Development in Bishkek. Around forty alumni and students from Central Asia, Afghanistan and OSCE region participated in the event. The conference was welcomed by the Director Dr. Alexander Wolters and the Programme Coordinator of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek Ms. Rosalia Bollen. Nineteen alumni presented their papers within the three OSCE dimensions-panels: Politico-Military, Human and Economic-Environmental. Presenters touched upon the security in Central Asia and Afghanistan; foreign policy vectors; regional economic unions and projects and its implications to the region; challenges in the education sphere; use of mass media by extremists and other important for the region issues. Dr. Emil Joroev, Dr. Farhad Kerimov teaching fellows of the OSCE Academy and Mr. Shairbek Dzhuraev, Marie Curie Fellow, University of St Andrews chaired and excellently moderated the conference panels. The two-day conference was concluded by the guest-lecture of Dr. Pal Dunay, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, on “No paradigm shift but major rearrangements in international politics.”

During the Reception of the Conference, Dr. Wolters announced the Alumna of the Year 2017- Elvira Kalmurzaeva ’15, currently a CEO of a regional youth organization - IDEA Central Asia and awarded her with a certificate. The OSCE Academy Alumni Network congratulates Elvira and wishes her to keep up with the great job she is doing for youth of the region.

The OSCE Academy expresses its deepest appreciation to the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs (NUPI) and the OSCE for their generous support of the OSCE Academy's Alumni Network.

On behalf of the Academy's graduates, we would also like to convey sincere gratitude to the visiting and permanent faculty of the OSCE Academy who numerously contributed to professional and academic growth of our alumni.