On April 28, 2022, the Launching ceremony for the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development was held online in Rome, Italy.

Important notice: Resolution on declaring 2022 as the "International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development" was adopted at the initiative of Kyrgyzstan on December 16, 2021, during the 76^th session of the UN General Assembly. It was adopted unanimously by all UN member states. 93 states co-sponsored it.

The Ceremony was attended by 361 participants, including the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Qu Dongyu, foreign and line ministers of mountain countries (Andorra, Bhutan, Uganda, the Dominican Republic, Nepal, and Switzerland). A written message from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was read, and video messages from UN General Assembly President Abdullah Shaheed and Yannick Glemarek, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, were shown at the Ceremony.

The President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov welcomed the guests of the event. In his video address, he noted that in the international arena Kyrgyzstan has consistently been promoting the interests of mountain countries. The President said that he raised in detail the socio-economic and environmental problems of mountain countries at the General Debates of the UN General Assembly in September 2021, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming in October 2021, the Climate Summit in Glasgow in November 2021 and the 4^th session of the Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Japan in April 2022. The President of the Kyrgyz Republic emphasized that to solve the above-mentioned problems, 2022 was declared the Year of Mountain Ecosystems Protection and Climate Sustainability in Kyrgyzstan.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UN General Assembly’s President Abdullah Shaheed emphasized the importance of mountain regions for the livelihoods of communities around the world. They noted that mountains are the source of water and therefore source of life, clean energy, and are home to unique species of flora and fauna. Meanwhile, special attention was paid to the vulnerability of mountain communities and ecosystems to global warming. In this context, they emphasized the role of the Kyrgyz Republic in promoting initiatives in the field of sustainable mountain development.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Dinara Kemelova took part in the event online. She spoke about the mountain initiatives of the Kyrgyz Republic, and urged to unite efforts to solve the problems of mountain regions.

Participants of the Ceremony noted the need to consolidate efforts to address the problems of mountain countries and promote global commitments to protect vulnerable ecosystems and increase the resilience of mountain peoples.