Istanbul – The Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Amer Kapetanović, met today in Istanbul with Ivana Živković, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to discuss ongoing and future cooperation between the two organisations.

Secretary General Kapetanović emphasized the importance of joint efforts in addressing the region’s development priorities, especially those under the South East Europe 2030 (SEE2030) Strategy, which is modelled on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The RCC and UNDP share a longstanding partnership rooted in a mutual vision for regional stability, resilience, inclusion, and growth. Our joint initiative SEESAC is an example of a successful cooperation between RCC and UNDP that brought tangible results in the past years. Hence, our work continues to align across even more crucial areas such as green transition, digital transformation, innovation boost, gender mainstreaming, and regional integration. Deepening the cooperation between our organisations will only strengthen the capacities to deliver even more tangible results for the people of South East Europe,” said Kapetanović.

Ms. Živković welcomed the collaboration with the RCC and reiterated UNDP’s commitment to supporting the region through regional initiatives. She recognised RCC’s role in promoting regional dialogue and practical solutions, stressing that partnerships like this are essential to building sustainable development and peace across the region.

The two officials discussed aligning efforts under the SEE2030, but also other regional initiatives facilitated by the RCC, the Common Regional Market (CRM) and Green Agenda for the Western Balkans (GAWB), and agreed to explore new avenues of collaboration under the upcoming RCC strategic cycle and the UNDP regional programme framework.