Mandate of UN peacebuilding mission in Tajikistan continued for another year

The mandate of the United Nations Tajikistan Office of Peacebuilding (UNTOP) has been extended until June of next year, in view of the pressing needs in the post-civil war Central Asian country, according to an exchange of letters between UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council.

"During the past five years of peacebuilding, Tajik society has come a long way in healing the wounds of civil war. However, much remains to be done in strengthening national unity and consolidating peace," Mr. Annan said.

Last year, UNTOP organized political discussion club sessions across the country, engaging more than 1,000 Government officials, political party activists and representatives of civil society, "with the effect of making local government more transparent and accountable to citizens," he said.

The civil war in Tajikistan, lying west of China and north of Afghanistan, lasted from 1992 to 1997.

In its elections last February, more than 250 media representatives were taught electoral procedures and relevant laws, while 13,000 poll workers and 300 district election commissioners in the country's 41 electoral districts were trained in electoral procedures, he said.

UNTOP had also assisted the country with reforming national legislation to fit with its treaty obligations, strengthening the rule of law through training the staff of the Ministry of the Interior in human rights standards, forensic techniques and modern law enforcement, he said.