Afghanistan conference emphasizes a regional approach to reconstruction

The declaration referred to international standards for protecting human rights and civil liberties, including minority rights, alongside national law. This formal commitment offers a benchmark for...

The member states adopted rules for dialogue partners, giving interested states a formal channel for cooperation below observer status and membership. The new category widened the SCO’s external...

The member governments signed an agreement on cooperation against illicit trafficking in arms, ammunition and explosives. It expanded security coordination to transnational weapons flows, while...

In Astana, prime ministers approved a plan to implement the SCO’s trade and economic cooperation programme. The plan aimed to translate long-term goals into practical cooperation; adopting it did...

The SCO hosted a special conference on Afghanistan with regional and international participation. The declaration treated Afghanistan’s stability as inseparable from regional security and development,...

At the 2009 summit, member states called for dialogue and a more equitable and rational architecture of interstate relations. Their position challenged concentration of global decision-making power,...

The member states adopted the SCO Convention against Terrorism, giving a treaty framework to cooperation against terrorism. Its legal definitions and obligations expanded the organization’s security...

The Yekaterinburg meeting took place during the global financial crisis and called for international cooperation on economic stability and development. It positioned the SCO as a venue for...

Member governments issued a joint statement on communicable diseases and cooperation. The document widened the organization’s understanding of shared security to include public health, though it...

The prime ministers issued an initiative to speed multilateral economic cooperation, respond to the financial crisis and support development. The initiative recorded a collective ambition; it should...