DUSHANBE (Avesta news agency) — From July 1, 2017, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan will be transformed into the Office of OSCE Programs in Dushanbe, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan said.

Ambassador Tuula Yrjölä

Ambassador Tuula Yrjölä of Finland was appointed Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan on 1 October 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 has also held posts in New York and Kiev.
(Courtesy of OSCE/Jonathan Perfect)

In accordance with the decision taken earlier by the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan will be transformed into the OSCE Office of Programs in Dushanbe on July 1, 2017.

According to this decision, the OSCE Office of Programs in Dushanbe will carry out program activities within the framework of the military, political, economic, environmental and human dimensions of the OSCE’s work with a view to supporting the Republic of Tajikistan in implementing the principles and fulfilling OSCE commitments.

The Office of Programs will work with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan in close cooperation and on the basis of consultations.

The OSCE Permanent Council is one of the main regular decision-making bodies of the organization, in which representatives of all 57 OSCE participating States participate. Decisions are made on the basis of consensus, the report says.

The transformation of the OSCE Office into a program office in Tajikistan means a decline in the status of the Organization in the Republic

As previously reported, according to the new mandate of the organization, the activities of the OSCE field offices in Tajikistan are not envisaged, and, therefore, the offices in Rasht, Khujand, Kurgan-Tube, Kulyab and Shahritus will be closed.