Outgoing Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, Ambassador Tuula Yrjölä, yesterday met here with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin at the end of her tenure to the Republic of Tajikistan.
According to the Tajik MFA information department, Muhriddin appreciated the outgoing diplomat’s contribution to expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and expressed hope that her successor would continue cooperation at the same level.
During the meeting, the two reportedly discussed the bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the OSCE in all three dimensions of the OSCE as well as a number of other issues being of mutual interest.
Ambassador Tuula Yrjölä of Finland was appointed Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe on October 1, 2016. Between 2013 and 2016 she was Ambassador of Finland to the Egypt. She has over 30 years of experience in the Foreign Ministry of Finland, including several leadership positions such as Ambassador for Central Asia (Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) and Director for Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. She had also held posts in New York and Kyiv, Ukraine.
The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe promotes the implementation of OSCE principles and commitments. With a special emphasis on the regional context, it assists Tajikistan in tackling problems and threats to security, supports conflict prevention and crisis management measures. As such, it works in areas such as border management, police reform, counter-terrorism and small arms and light weapons stockpiling and storage. The Programme Office also supports the country in developing free trade, good governance, environmental protection and water and energy security. The Programme Office supports the development of the rule of law and democratic political institutions and processes, including the respect for human rights.
