UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is on a tour of the countries of Central Asia, reports news.un.org.  He will visit Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

According to press secretary Stephane Dujarric, in each country the UN Secretary General will meet with the head of state and other high-ranking government representatives, and will also get acquainted with projects related to the fight against climate change and communicate with local activists.  The first stop of the tour is Tashkent.

In Astana on July 4, the Secretary General will take part in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.  In his speech, Guterres will remind forum participants of the need to reaffirm their commitment to the principles of multilateralism based on the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  He will emphasize that peace must be at the center of these efforts. The UN Secretary General, according to his press secretary, also intends to warn the international community that geopolitical differences do not allow us to effectively eliminate common threats, including the fight against climate change, the source said.