FROM THE SPEECH OF PRESIDENT EMOMALI RAKHMONOV OF TAJIKISTAN AT THE 60th ANNIVERSARY SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Regional cooperation plays an important role in development. It is difficult to revalue its significance for Central Asia. Tajikistan consecutively supports activation and strengthening the regional integration, including through such mechanisms as Central Asian Cooperation (CAC), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and Integration Committee of the Eurasian Economic Community (EEC).
Feedback is evident as well: active involvement of Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbors in its development, and taking the regional context into account in post-conflict rehabilitation of this country guarantee a success in efforts made there to revive peace and stability. We are sure that multilateral regional cooperation should cover Afghanistan in full within the framework of the concept of “Big Central Asia” united by common vision.
One of the important riches on our planet that are not only the basis for environmental balance but also the most significant basis for economic well-being is water. Holding International Year of Fresh Water in 2003 was landmark, and we are grateful to all the countries for supporting this initiative of Tajikistan.
Taking into account a special seriousness of the water problem for Central Asian countries where there is one of the largest global environmental catastrophes, disappearance of the Aral Sea, I suggest to create under the aegis of the UN a mechanism for coordinating the efforts of the international organizations and donor community with a view to mitigating consequences of this crisis. Through such a mechanism, a special regional pilot project for achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the Aral Sea basin can be implemented in a priority order.
On 22 March 2005, an International Decade for Actions “Water for Life” 2005-2015 also declared on the initiative of Tajikistan launched.
I suggest holding in 2010 an International Forum on Fresh Water in Dushanbe in order to asses practical fulfillment of the approved “International Water Agenda” together.
NATIONAL GROUPS TO COORDINATE AND SUPPORT INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT FOUNDED IN TAJIKISTAN AND UZBEKISTAN
In support of “IWRM-Fergana” Project Phase III, national groups for coordination and support (NGCS) that represent the concerned ministries and agencies were established at the Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water Resources of Tajikistan and Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan.
The main objectives of the groups are:
- to prepare and publish, in association with national leader, directive documents on transfer of canal management to “Canal (System) Water User Unions” (CWUU) established by the decision of governments;
- raise public awareness of strategy adopting and spread experience of pilot plots through the mass media, websites, workshops, roundtables and so on, and adopt project recommendations for national policy-makers on outputs of “IWRM-Fergana” Project phases 1, 2 and 3;
- coordinate activities and results of other projects being implemented in the country and relating to “IWRM-Fergana” Project objectives.
TURKMENISTAN: SPECIALISTS OF CENTRAL ASIA AND CAUCASUS DISCUSS TOPICAL ISSUES ON WATER USE
A number of forums united by aspects of water resources management took place in September in Ashkhabad within the framework of participation of Central Asian and Caucasus in Global Water Partnership (GWP). This organization was based in 1996, in accordance with the principles of the Declaration on Environment and Development adopted at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. Governmental agencies, UN organizations, and various international and scientific organizations take an active part in GWP activities.
Global Water Partnership was established to provide exchange of knowledge and experience in rational water use between specialists from different countries, and favorable conditions for implementing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). It should be noted that the participation of Turkmenistan in GWP is of a strong interest to its partners by this organization at both global and regional levels. In our country, a large experience in water resources management and use has been accumulated, a number of unprecedented projects in this field are implemented, including such important ones as Turkmen Lake construction.
So, it is no wonder that Ashkhabad has become a place for holding the next meeting of the GWP Regional Technical Consulting Committee (RTCC) for Caucasus and Central Asia. This forum brought together in the Turkmen capital leading scientists and experts from the countries of the region, specialists from water and environmental agencies. At the meeting, a constructive exchange of opinions on prospects for further implementation of IWRM in the region, on most valuable experience of the countries including Turkmenistan in this field was carried out.
The workshop “Knowledge Sharing for Equitable, Effective and Sustainable Water Resources Management” held in Ashkhabad on 21 September, has something common in many respects with the subjects discussed at the RTCC meeting. The workshop, in which consultant Danko Taylmeinerova from Slovakia took part, considered different scenarios for water resources use in order to provide economically effective and environmentally safe water management in all cases.
On 22 September, a series of activities under the Global Water Partnership in Ashkhabad was followed by the National Workshop on the Introduction of Integrated Water Resources Management Principles in the Context of Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals, in which leading ecologists of the country, specialists in water resources and industrial water supply, and other concerned agencies participated. At the workshop, book “Integrated Water Resources Management” published in Ashkhabad by the Turkmen Ministry of Water Resources in association with GWP was presented. This edition designed for a wide range of readers contains information on the fundamental principles of IWRM, peculiarities of implementing them in our country.
Deputy Director of the Institute “Turkmensuvylymtaslama” Usman Saparov, who participated in the forums, noted that the fact that Ashkhabad has become a place for holding so dignified meetings within the GWP framework at both national and regional levels is not accidental. The international community and the countries in the region are interested in positive experience of Turkmenistan in water management, but specialists in our country are interested in the newest developments in the world relating to this field. Turkmenistan has a large potential due to climatic and land resources, a key to development of which is rationally organized water use. That is why today considerable actions in this field are taken in our country.
Source: “Turkmenistan: Golden Century"
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