The Bishkek Global Mountain Summit, held 29 October to 1 November 2002 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, was the culminating global event of the International Year of Mountains. Organized by the government of Kyrgyzstan with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other partners, the Summit was attended by more than 600 delegates from 60 countries. I was particularly pleased to attend the summit for 3 main reasons. Firstly, long before the Summit I gladly joined the BGMS Advisory Board, which met several times in preparation for the event. Secondly, I was invited by the Swiss Government to become a member of the Swiss delegation to the Summit. Thirdly, the involvement of the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) in several programs in Central Asia since 2000 had already brought me to this fascinating region many times prior to the Summit. The Kyrgyz hosts made every effort to ensure that the Summit was a big success. The official opening, where much of Central Asia’s— and particularly Kyrgyzstan’s—spiritual and cultural heritage was evident in the audience, will remain unforgettable. Apart from presentations and statements by many highlevel representatives from all over the world in the plenary sessions, many parallel sessions were offered for participants—up to 16 at a time—which sometimes made it rather difficult to choose. My personal input at the Summit was facilitation of the results of the Pamir Strategy Project workshop in Khorog, together with representatives of the GBAO Government. Of course, this symposium was only one of numerous Summit events open to participants. The Summit produced a number of very concrete results. For example, the governments of Italy and Switzerland pledged support to enable the International Year of Mountains Coordination Unit at FAO to continue its work in 2003. The Swiss and Italian contributions will also allow FAO to help develop a secretariat to support the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountains, which was launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in September 2002. A key product of the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit was the Bishkek Mountain Platform. This statement is presented in full below. It builds on the many substantial declarations developed at other major global events on mountains. It was prepared by representatives of participating and attending institutions, and presented to the Summit by the Government of Kyrgyzstan, which has forwarded it to the United Nations General Assembly for consideration. The purpose of the Platform is to provide guidance to governments and others on how to improve the livelihoods of mountain people, protect mountain ecosystems, and use mountain resources more wisely. Most important, it provides a framework for action at the international, regional, national and local levels, which can be used in follow-up activities and to enforce initiatives launched during IYM2002.
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