It was December 2024. UNOPS was preparing to launch the EU Civil Society Facility for Central Asia, a programme covering five countries, alongside the fifth EU–Central Asia Civil Society Forum. The event was scheduled for late January in Almaty, bringing together civil society, governments, EU officials and international development partners.
There was plenty to organise. And not a great deal of time.
In Astana, I met colleagues from the EU Delegation, discussed the previous forum and began developing ideas for the event’s communications and visibility, as well as the project’s visual identity.
Then I flew to Almaty. My mission: inspect three hotels, assess their suitability for a major international forum and meet a local event company. I had exactly 90 minutes in the city to do all of it. Airport transfers not included.
I’d call it a site visit, but a sprint would be more accurate.
By the afternoon, I was back in Astana with a venue recommendation. And somewhere along those flights, the traditional patterns on the airline seat covers had sparked an idea for the project’s visual identity.
The following day, I presented the project’s logo concept to our EU partners and project colleagues. I wanted it to represent all five countries coming together, with a sense of shared purpose, movement and action.
This went on to become the logo of the project.
Then came the real challenge: making it all happen. Christmas holidays in Europe, followed by New Year and January holidays across Central Asia. The calendar was not exactly on our side.
What followed was a remarkable collective effort by the EU Delegation, UNOPS, the Danish Institute for Human Rights and local organisers. I was particularly proud of my UNOPS colleagues, who went above and beyond, finding practical solutions and making things happen at remarkable speed.
On 28 January 2025, the fifth EU–Central Asia Civil Society Forum opened in Almaty. More than 200 participants came together, the project’s visual identity was in use, and the event was a success.
By the time the forum kicked off in late January, participants were happy with how smoothly everything was running. It looked as though we’d had months to prepare. We thought it best not to mention that we’d started in December.