SADYR ZHAPAROV, President of Kyrgyzstan, said the establishment of democracy for the development of statehood was the main achievements of his country over the course of its 30 years of independence.  “We will remain steadfast on the democratic path,” he said, further urging all Member States to support the country’s candidacy for the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2023‑2025 term and for a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2027‑2028 term.

Turning to his country’s relations with its neighbours, he noted that Kyrgyzstan promoted equal dialogue, mutually acceptable cooperation and advocated for addressing all disagreements through negotiations alone.  Considering that his country and its neighbours would celebrate a 30-year anniversary of joining the United Nations in 2022, he proposed holding a Central Asia–United Nations summit to take stock of the mutual cooperation and map out joint plans for the future development and security of Central Asia.

Expressing concerns about the recent events in Afghanistan, he noted that the question of security in Central Asia was at the forefront.  “We hope for the earliest possible restoration of social and political stability and law and order in Afghanistan,” he said, offering to temporarily relocate evacuated United Nations institutions to Bishkek and to provide higher education opportunities for 500 Afghan students.  In the meantime, his Government continued carrying out comprehensive work to combat terrorism and extremism in line with the United Nations global counter-terrorism framework.  He further called upon Member States to step up efforts to combat transnational organized crime.

On the pandemic, he said that Kyrgyzstan’s vaccination campaign was well under way.  However, financial resources had to be rechannelled from the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals to fight the wave of COVID-19 and to service the external debt.

As a mountainous country, Kyrgyzstan had prioritized climate change adaptation, he continued.  Outlining the importance to protecting and enhancing its mountain forest areas, he said that Kyrgyzstan would come forward with the development and adoption under the auspices of the United Nations of a special targeted programme on preservation and restoration of mountain forests.

In the meanwhile, his country would strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, including through the introduction of carbon-free energy sources such as hydroelectricity, he said.  “Access to modern, environmentally green and inexpensive energy‑saving services in developing countries is of an extreme importance to the achievement of the development goals,” he stressed, noting that his country counted on the support and assistance from the world community, the United Nations and international financial institutions in solving the problems of ecosystems and ecologies of mountainous and landlocked countries.