DUSHANBE, June 13, Asia-Plus — Issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and UNESCO were a focus of meeting Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi with UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Cooperation, MR. Ahmed Sayyad, in Paris, according to the Tajik MFA.
The two, in particular, discussed the issue of inscribing historical and cultural relics located in the territory of Tajikistan on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
During the meeting, Mr. Sayyad expressed gratitude to the Government of Tajikistan on behalf of UNESCO for ratification the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, the MFA press service said.
The two also discussed issues related to the forthcoming visit of the Director General of UNSECO, Koichiro Matsuura, to Tajikistan.
We will recall that Minister Zarifi has been to Paris since June 10 for a five-day to attend an international conference, entitled “In Support for Afghanistan,” that opened in Paris yesterday. The conference has brought together representatives from some 80 countries of the world to discuss issues related to reconstructing Afghanistan’s economy, providing security and combating drug trafficking in Afghanistan.
Tajikistan joined UNESCO on April 6, 1993. Intensive cooperation is undertaken in the field of water sciences since Tajikistan was the initiator at the UN of the International Year of Freshwater proclaimed by the General Assembly for 2003.
Collaboration also involves the establishment of the Technological University of Tajikistan Computer Center (TUTCC) for training and informatics skill development. The center was established in order to foster human resource development in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Various training workshops were organized, as well as renovations of the infrastructure of the university. TUTCC has retrained more than 900 young IT specialists and experts.
