The Secretary General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Permanent International Secretariat (PERMIS) Ambassador Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos held consultations with the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Ban Ki-moon on 6 April 2009, on the margins of the Second Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations held in Istanbul. This constituted the first bilateral meeting between the Secretaries General of the two Organizations.

During the meeting, the enhanced cooperation existing between BSEC and the UN, the recent developments within BSEC, including developments related to the BSEC transport infrastructure projects, and the efforts of BSEC to contribute to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in the BSEC Region were discussed.

As it will be recalled, BSEC was granted Observer status by the UN General Assembly back in 1999. After that, the UN General Assembly Resolution 55/211 of 20 December 2000 on the Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation opened up new avenues for BSEC to develop working relationships with other organizations within the UN system and beyond.

Since then, BSEC has signed Cooperation Agreements with the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UN Development Programme (UNDP). BSEC has also developed cooperation with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

BSEC-UN cooperation has produced many concrete projects, including the ongoing Black Sea Trade and Investment Promotion Programme (BSTIP) project with the UNDP, the BSEC Regional Action Plan for “Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Trafficking in Persons in the Black Sea Region” prepared in cooperation with the UNODC, the regional conference held in Mamaia, Romania in 2008 on countering human trafficking organized jointly with the UNODC, the joint BSEC-IOM project on migration management and cooperation with the UN Industrial Development Organization International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (UNIDO-ICHET) in the areas of energy and the environment.

The UN General Assembly has continued to adopt every two years Resolutions on Cooperation between the UN and BSEC, reflecting the many dimensions of the cooperation which have developed over the years between the two Organizations.

For further information:

Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation