The UNDP and the State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan, the Agency for Youth Affairs, German Society for International Cooperation and other partners organized a workshop on “World Environment Day: the Aral Sea, Innovations, Youth and Partnership”, in Muynak.

The workshop is aimed at involving young people in a dialogue on measures to create a zone of environmental innovation and technology in the Aral Sea region.

Currently, national programs and projects are being implemented in the Aral Sea region to introduce green and smart technologies, develop the economy, create jobs, and improve the healthcare system.

More than 60 young people from Tashkent and Nukus, as well as from Muynak attended the event. The participants discussed issues related to green restoration, UNDP support for the development of the Aral Sea region, environmentally oriented regional revival, afforestation of the Aral Sea bottom and others.

The joint program also provides for the promotion of entrepreneurship among young people in agriculture in Karakalpakstan’s Muynak, Bozatau and Kungrad districts, which are selected as pilot territories. The main attention is paid to building the capacity of young farmers and entrepreneurs to develop agriculture, production and service delivery, which is expected to improve the economic wellbeing of vulnerable populations.

The program is aimed at combining efforts to create conditions for the development and implementation of environmentally friendly technologies, principles of green economy, methods of energy and water conservation, prevention of further desertification and environmental migration, development of ecotourism and other initiatives.

O. Kharchenko, UzA