A building bringing together 19 agencies of the United Nations system has been inaugurated in Almaty, Kazakhstan's main city. The new building, with a surface area of over 30,000 square meters, not only aims to provide greater visibility for the UN and its principles, but should also increase interaction between international organizations and government agencies. The premises, located in the business district, should facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Questioned on the relevance of such an achievement, the mayor of Almaty, Baurzhan Baibek, emphasized that his city now constituted a veritable UN regional center for, among other things, responding to emergency situations in Central Asia and Afghanistan. To illustrate his point, the mayor cited examples of projects such as Gorod dlya lyudei (City of the People), focused on modernizing public spaces specially designed for disabled people, and cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the field of transport.
All the international organizations will have moved into the new United Nations building by January 2019.