On February 12 this year at the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISRS), a meeting was held with representatives of the International non-profit organization “Search for Common Ground” (SFCG) - Asia Regional Advisor, Country Director for Uzbekistan and program manager A. Khaydarov.

During the conversation, the sides held an open dialog on a wide range of issues, including regional cooperation, reviewed Uzbekistan's experience in the rehabilitation and reintegration of repatriates, countering religious extremism among young people, as well as ensuring interconfessional tolerance. Prospects for establishing bilateral interaction between ISRS and SFCG were discussed as well.

As Keneshbek Sainazarov noted, the SFCG office has been operating in Uzbekistan since 2022. Organization in close coordination carries out projects with relevant ministries and departments of the republic aimed at promoting the UN global agenda “Women, Peace and Security”, increasing the role of youth in society and its involvement in combating against corruption, the fight with female violence in information and communication segments, ensuring religious harmony.

In turn, the guests were informed about the ongoing in Uzbekistan youth and gender policy, work on combating corruption, as well as terrorism, including at the global and regional levels. In particular, it was stated that today ISRS, together with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), has already accumulated solid experience in the joint implementation of the UN Counter-Terrorism Agenda in the region.

Thus, in March 2022, a high-level international conference on the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS) in Central Asia was successfully held in Tashkent. A number of important documents were adopted at the event - the Joint Action Plan for the implementation of the GCTS in a new edition, as well as the Tashkent Declaration, which confirmed the commitment of the Central Asian states to cooperation within the framework of the new action plan. In 2023, two regional events on cybersecurity and new technologies, as well as countering the financing of terrorism with cryptocurrencies, were organized in Tashkent. In December 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between ISRS and UNOCT at the UN headquarters in New York City.

Currently, the parties are working together to create, under the auspices of the UNOCT, a Regional Expert Council in Central Asia from among leading experts on the issues of rehabilitation and reintegration of returnees. This initiative was announced by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the mentioned above conference in Tashkent. The first meeting of the Council is planned to be held in Tashkent this year.

At the end of the meeting, the parties expressed mutual interest in organizing joint events on strengthening regional cooperation, enhancing the role of women and youth in society, and adapting to the consequences of climate change.

Search for Common Ground is the world's largest dedicated peacebuilding organization founded in 1982. Marjorie Newman-Williams is the president of organization. SFCG's mission is to change the world's approach to conflict resolution, away from adversarial approaches to cooperative solutions. It has offices in Washington, DC and Brussels. With more than 700 employees worldwide, it implements projects in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and North America.