A UN-Habitat office may soon be opened in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. According to Trend, this was stated by Irfan Ali, Director of the UN-Habitat Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, during the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Forum held within the framework of the WUF13 World Urban Forum.

“Currently, our office covers 25 countries in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, the Western Balkans, Türkiye, Russia, the Caucasus countries, and Central Asia. At present, the regional office is based in Istanbul together with other UN agencies. We already have four country programs — in Kyiv, Ukraine, Moscow, Kosovo, and here in Baku, Azerbaijan. I hope that very soon we will also have a project office in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan,” he said.

Ali noted that rapid urbanization is being observed across the region, especially in its Eastern European part.

“And of course, all countries in the region are vulnerable to the consequences of climate change, which we see everywhere, as well as to the risks of natural disasters. We remember what happened in Türkiye two years ago — the devastating earthquake. Many countries in the region are also exposed to similar risks. This encourages us to work more actively on strengthening resilience and to make this issue a priority in our regional cooperation,” he added.