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ASHGABAT (TCA) — Multilateral consultations on the development of the UN Special Programme for the countries of the Aral Sea basin took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan on December 19. The meeting was organized in accordance with the final Joint Communique of the Summit of the Founders of IFAS held in Turkmenistan last August and with the Resolutions on “Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea” (IFAS) adopted by the UN General Assembly at the initiative of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in 2018 and 2019, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported. Continue reading
TASHKENT (TCA) — Nukus, Uzbekistan on October 25 hosted the International High-Level Conference under the auspices of the United Nations, entitled "Aral Sea Region — zone of ecological innovation and technology". Continue reading
TASHKENT (TCA) — The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan on September 24 signed a Memorandum of Understanding paving the way for a EUR 100-million investment program designed to join in international efforts to recover the Aral Sea. Continue reading
TASHKENT (TCA) — A delegation of Uzbekistan led by Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Badriddin Abidov visited Brussels where he discussed prospects for cooperation with the European Union in the framework of the Multi-Partner Human Security Trust Fund for the Aral Sea region in Uzbekistan (MPHSTF), the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan reported. During the visit on March 24-26, meetings were held with a number of high-ranking representatives of the European Union: Deputy Managing Director of the European External Action Service Luc Devigne, EU Special Representative for Central Asia Peter Burian, Managing Counselor of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Umberto Del Panta and Director for Asia, Central Asia, Middle East/Gulf and the Pacific at the European Commission's Department for International Cooperation and Development, Pierre Amilhat. The members of the Uzbek delegation provided detailed information about the goals and objectives of the Multi-Partner Human Security Trust Fund, mechanisms for approving and implementing projects, ensuring transparency and interaction with donors. During the meetings, representatives of the EU and Belgium reported that they support the initiative of Uzbekistan and the United Nations to establish MPHSTF and are committed to setting up long-term cooperation in reducing the negative effects of the drying up of the Aral Sea. An agreement was reached following the meetings and negotiations that in early April the EU delegation led by the Special Representative Peter Burian would visit the Aral Sea region to study the needs of Uzbekistan and prepare recommendations for EU institutions and member countries on cooperation opportunities with the Uzbek side within the framework of the Multi-Partner Human Security Trust Fund for the Aral Sea Region. The European side also intends to propose the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between the EIB and the Multi-Partner Human Security Trust Fund for the Aral Sea Region, which is scheduled to be signed during the May visit to Uzbekistan of the Vice-President of the Bank Vazil Hudák.
BISHKEK (TCA) — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged countries to fund a new initiative designed to reduce vulnerability, advance sustainable development and create decent living conditions for millions of people living around the Aral Sea, whose basin encompasses Uzbekistan, and six other countries in Central Asia, the UN News portal reported on November 27. Continue reading
ASHGABAT (TCA) — Presidents of five former Soviet republics in Central Asia met in Turkmenistan on August 24 to discuss the ways to save the Aral Sea, which for decades has been facing severe environmental issues. Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov hosted Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Sooronbai Jeenbekov of Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, and Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan in the Avaza tourist zone near the city of Turkmenbashi on the Caspian coast. The Kazakh presidential press service cited Nazarbayev as telling the summit that the talks "will give an additional boost to the process of regional cooperation in using water resources." The five countries are founding members of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFSAS) that was established in 1993. During the August 24 summit, the presidents chaired sessions of the Interstate Commission for the IFSAS Development, the Interstate Coordination Commission for Water Resources, and the IFSAS' directorate, RFE/RL reported. In January last year, just weeks after he was inaugurated as Uzbekistan's new president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced that his country would spend $2.6 billion over five years to develop the area around the Aral Sea. Once the world's fourth largest landlocked natural water reservoir, the Aral Sea has lost 90 percent of its size since the 1960s — in part because the two major rivers feeding the sea, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were diverted for Soviet irrigation projects. The shrinking of the Aral Sea is considered one of the planet's worst environmental disasters, and has led to significant environmental challenges in the region shared by Uzbekistan's autonomous Karakalpakstan region and Kazakhstan.
