Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 18 February, an international conference entitled “The role of youth in the fight against terrorism, extremism and radicalism” was held in the conference hall of the Hyatt Regency Tashkent hotel.

The event was opened by Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov: “Today there are 7.9 billion people in the world, 2.3 billion of whom are young people,” he said. In Uzbekistan, young people under the age of 30 make up 55% of the country's population (18 million people). As in other countries, the influence on our youth of ideological threats, such as extremism, terrorism and radicalism, is higher than other factors and threats. The international community, international and regional organizations are making every effort to combat these threats around the world and, in a sense, are achieving positive results. "

At the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan, Aziz Abdukhakimov declared 2021 the Year of Support for Youth and Public Health, and this year, 29.5 trillion soums, 2.6 billion US dollars and 57.3 million euros have been allocated under the State Program. It was added that more than 200 women and children were brought to Uzbekistan from military camps in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the Mehr-1, Mehr-2 and Mehr-3 operations.

It was also noted that the number of higher education institutions in the country has increased by 60% over the past three years and now stands at 116.

After that, the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Vladimir Norov highly appreciated the proclamation of 2021 by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev as the Year of Support for Youth and Public Health.

The event was also attended by Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States Baghdad Amreev, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Cooperation and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia Kairat Saribay, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States Sergey Lebedev and others. In addition, for the first time, UN Deputy Secretary General Vladimir Voronkov addressed the youth of Uzbekistan.

The videoconference consisted of 4 sessions, during which international experts and foreign observers shared their experience in implementing effective measures to combat terrorism, extremism and radicalism.

The conference was devoted to increasing attention to the fight against terrorism, extremism and radicalism among the youth of the Council for Confidence Building Measures in Asia, the SCO member states, the CIS and the UN, as well as effective cooperation.

The event was organized by the Agency for Youth Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Council on Confidence Building Measures in Asia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, the UNDP Office in Uzbekistan and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.