OSCE Secretary General meets with OSCE Central Asian Youth Network alumni
![](https://www.osce.org/files/imagecache/10_large_gallery/f/images/hires/e/3/392498.jpg?1536151803)
Five alumni of the Central Asian Youth Network (CAYN) met with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger in Vienna on 5 September 2018. They discussed security issues in Central Asia, the OSCE’s work and its comprehensive and co-operative approach to security.
The college students from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan travelled to Vienna to learn more about the work of various units of the OSCE Secretariat. They included the Conflict Prevention Centre, the Communication and Media Relations Section, the Transnational Threats Department, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, Gender Section and the Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
During their meeting with the OSCE Secretary General they discussed their ideas for promoting co-operation in the Central Asia region and ways to engage youth.
The group participated in a meeting of the OSCE Group of Friends of Youth and Security, where they spoke about their engagement in CAYN and shared their views on how the CAYN model might be applied in other regions.
OSCE Chairmanship Special Representative on Youth and Security and OSCE Focal Point on Youth and Security Anna-Katharina Deininger, who attended the CAYN seminar in 2015, discussed her role in promoting the role of youth in addressing the complex challenges to security in the OSCE area.
The group is scheduled to meet with representatives of the OSCE Italian Chairmanship and the delegation of the United States and their respective home countries. They will also have an opportunity to meet with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, to discuss media issues across the OSCE region.
The members of the group were selected to visit Vienna based on their outstanding contribution to the 2018 CAYN seminar, which was held in June. It focused on the theme “Innovating Central Asia” and involved some 40 students and CAYN alumni from the wider Central Asian region.
The visit was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, with financial and logistical support from the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the Conflict Prevention Centre.
The Central Asian Youth Network was launched in 2004 to enhance promising students' knowledge and understanding of contemporary security threats and the OSCE's role in addressing them.