Tashkent hosted International Conference on “Strengthening regional water cooperation in Central Asia”.

The event was organized by the International Institute for Central Asia (IICA) and the UNESCO Office in Uzbekistan.

The Forum was attended by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia and Head of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) Natalia Gherman, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) Khusniddin Sharofiddinov, the UN Resident Coordinator for the Republic of Uzbekistan Helena Fraser, heads of diplomatic missions, relevant ministries, agencies and analytical structures of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Issues of strengthening regional dialogue and cooperation in the water-ecological sphere were discussed at the event. The main attention was paid to the adoption, at the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, of a special resolution of the UN General Assembly to declare the Aral Sea region a zone of environmental innovations and technologies.

IICA Director Anvar Nasirov noted that in recent years, fundamental positive changes have taken place in Central Asia, manifested in the progressive development of good-neighborly relations, multifaceted cooperation and strategic partnership.

These dynamics also had a positive effect on the interaction of the states of the region on water issues, thereby creating the preconditions for mutually beneficial and fruitful cooperation in the long term.

The participants exchanged views on the approaches of the countries of the region to strengthening regional cooperation in the water sector, as well as on the state and prospects of IFAS activities.

All the participants of the event agreed that in recent years there has been a significant breakthrough in regional cooperation in all areas, and water-ecological problems are no exception.

UzA