On 23 August 2023, the SCO Secretariat and the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) of the UN Secretariat held regular working consultations online. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA).

SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming and Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General and head of the Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, made opening remarks.

The representatives from the DPPA and UNRCCA spoke about the current work of UN entities in Central Asia and Afghanistan, election monitoring programmes, and they informed the other participants about the activities of the Youth Preventive Diplomacy Academy and the programme of the Dialogue of Women Leaders of Central Asia.

SCO Secretariat officials presented the SCO member states’ position and the experience of cooperation within the SCO on the above issues.

The sides exchanged their views on the prospects for interaction between the two organisations. They confirmed their mutual intention for consistent strengthening of cooperation, promotion of dialogue and exchanges.

Observer status for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the General Assembly was approved on 2 December 2004.

A Joint Declaration on Cooperation between the secretariats of the UN and the SCO was signed on 5 April 2010. A number of UNGA resolutions concern cooperation between the UN and the SCO.

To date, seven UNGA resolutions on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation have been adopted: Resolutions 64/183 of 18 December 2009, 65/124 of 13 December 2010, 67/15 of 19 November 2012, 69/11 of 11 November 2014, 71/14 of 21 November 2016, 73/334 of 30 August 2019 and 75/69 of 25 March 2021.