The summit, being organized jointly by the Kyrgyz Republic, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with support from the United Nations University (UNU), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), and various other UN agencies, governmental and non-governmental organizations, will be attended by more than 400 participants representing a wide range of concerned stakeholders from all over the world. Its aim is to draw together the ideas and recommendations generated in various events organized in different parts of the world during the IYM2002 into proposals of concrete actions for sustainable development of the world's mountain regions.

A wide range of plenary addresses, theme- and region-based workshops, organized around the central themes of "Taking Stock" (Day 1), "Learning from Experience" and "Defining Priorities for Action" (Day 2), "Building Partnerships" (Day 3) and "Moving Ahead" (Day 4), will give full consideration to the key issues of sustainable mountain development. It is anticipated that participants will reach agreement on concrete actions to ensure the sustainable development and management of mountain regions in the twenty-first century. Final outputs of the summit will include the "Bishkek Mountain Platform," a framework for action incorporating key recommendations from summit presentations and other previous IYM 2002 events; further promotion of the "International Partnership for Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions," which has been officially launched at the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development to bring together national governments, international organizations and other major groups to help take concrete and concerted actions; and a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly on sustainable development of mountain regions.

The United Nations University, with its experience of working for sustainable mountain development for the past quarter century, will participate in the summit with the delegation headed by its Rector Has van Ginkel, and will play a key role in various aspects of the summit as one of the main official supporters.

More information about the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit, including a full programme of summit events, is available online at http://www.globalmountainsummit.org.