The most vital basis for the SCO’s development lies in mutual respect among civilizations, and its most powerful force lies in bringing the region’s peoples closer together. Thanks to inter-civilizational exchanges and the rapprochement of peoples, the SCO overcame differences in ideology, social systems, and development paths and formed a new model of international relations.

Over the 23 years of the SCO’s existence, humanitarian cooperation between member countries has brought fruitful results to their peoples.

Thanks to documents on cooperation in education, the SCO has promoted student and other exchanges. The organization’s member states signed an agreement to establish and operate the SCO University, which provides a new platform for educational cooperation and promotes the exchange of educational resources and collaboration in personnel training.

In accordance with the Agreement between the governments of the SCO member states on cooperation in healthcare, interaction is being carried out to prevent and treat infectious diseases. Member states’ capacity to respond to public health emergencies has been enhanced.

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 highlighted the importance and relevance of cooperation in healthcare, and the SCO countries provided each other with assistance and support to counter the pandemic.

The SCO countries have prosperous tourism resources. More than 140 cultural and historical monuments of the SCO member states are included in the World Heritage List. To develop tourism cooperation, the SCO Secretariat has launched a series of events called “Eight Wonders of the SCO”, making efforts to build the rich tourism resources of the Silk Road and promoting friendship and trust between the peoples of the region through a mutual acquaintance with history, cultural heritage, traditions, and customs.

Strengthening humanitarian cooperation not only enriched the spiritual lives of the people of the SCO countries but also deepened mutual understanding and friendship and laid a solid foundation for further development and cooperation of the SCO.

Over 23 years of joint efforts, the SCO has become a security shield, a bridge of cooperation, a bond of friendship, and a constructive force in the region. “As they say, we are jointly achieving great goals on the right path. The SCO keeps pace with the era’s spirit, corresponds to the direction of human progress, and will certainly develop dynamically and strengthen with our joint efforts”, President of China Xi Jinping emphasized.

UzA