AKIPRESS.COM - The OSCE-supported seventh annual Central Asian Leadership Programme (CALP) for some 40 young environmental leaders and decision-makers from the state, non-governmental, academic and business sectors of Central Asia and Afghanistan on sustainable development goals and improved co-operation began today in Almaty, OCSE said in a release.

The nine-day event is co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in partnership with the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC), the government of Norway, the United Nations Environment Programme, the European Union and the US Agency for International Development.

The programme is designed to facilitate discussions on the sustainable development goals with a special emphasis on trasnboundary water governance principles and youth empowerment as well as to enhance networking among the event participants.

Iskandar Abdullayev, Executive Director of CAREC, said: "CALP is an effective instrument of partnership in the region. Trained in this leadership programme and supported through the previous year’s network, the participants are pioneers and champions of co-operation in the environmental issues of the region."

“Sustainable water governance and the involvement of youth in addressing security challenges are among the top OSCE priorities in its comprehensive approach to security and co-operation,” said György Szabó, Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana. He also stressed the importance of building the younger generation’s capacity to quickly absorb the knowledge accumulated by previous generations and to come up with effective and creative solutions.

The event, in its seventh consecutive year, is a follow-up of the Office’s long-standing efforts to strengthen the network of young environmental leaders in the Central Asia region and beyond and to promote regional dialogue and co-operation in environmental security and sustainable development.