Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), a unique interstate organization in Central Asia, in the year of its 30th anniversary, is in the process of reaching a higher effective level.

In many ways, a new impetus in the work of IFAS was given by the initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in foreign policy, the priority of which was cooperation with the countries of the region.

Among the most urgent tasks facing the countries of Central Asia is the consistent continuation of large-scale work to overcome the consequences of the Aral Sea crisis. Uzbekistan, first of all, itself sets examples of active search and implementation of specific projects in this direction and attracts the international community to this.

At the initiative of Uzbekistan, in 2018, under the auspices of the UN, the Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Human Security for the Aral Sea Region was created, within which funds are accumulated to improve the situation in the environmental disaster zone.

In the same year, the head of state signed a resolution "On the formation of the International Innovation Center of the Aral Sea under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan." The Center provides scientific and methodological guidance for all forest planting and biodiversity restoration activities in the Aral Sea area.

So far, almost 1.7 million hectares of the dried day of the Aral Sea have been planted with such plants as saxaul and tamarix. Today, work on planting greenery in the desert zones of the Aral Sea region is actively continuing.

Since the formation of IFAS, the founding countries have also come a long way, the Fund’s local branches are consistently working in four key areas - water resources, energy, environment and socio-economic development.

Projects have been implemented within the framework of 3 Action Programs for Assistance to the Countries of the Aral Sea Basin (ASBP). Currently, their implementation continues within the framework of ASBP-4.

Against the backdrop of the increasingly aggravated negative consequences of climate change in Central Asia, the role of IFAS is further enhanced. Great hopes are pinned on the Fund to solve one of the most sensitive problems in the region - the rational use of water resources, which are the guarantor of food security and human life in general.

IFAS today can serve as a single platform for the countries of the region, where new mechanisms can be developed through joint efforts

on the distribution of transboundary water resources, strengthen measures to introduce modern water-saving technologies, install water accounting and monitoring systems, as well as find ways to effectively store it.

Based on the realities, new challenges and requirements of an environmental and socio-economic nature, by decision of the founding countries of the Fund, the issue of launching the process of improving the organizational structure and legal framework of IFAS has long been put on the agenda.

For the first time this topic was raised in the Joint Statement of the Heads of the founding states of the Fund on April 28, 2009 in Almaty. But only at the 13th IFAS Summit in August 2018 in the city of Turkmenbashi, the Presidents of the founding countries expressed their readiness to launch this process.

To implement this initiative, by the decision of the IFAS Board of 30 January 2018, a Regional Working Group (RWG) was established to improve the organizational structure and legal framework of IFAS from among the representatives of the relevant ministries and departments of the founding states and structural divisions of the Fund.

Experts from Central Asian countries and international consultants were also involved in the RWG. To date, 10 meetings of the RWG have been held.

Despite the fact that Kyrgyzstan suspended its participation in the activities of the IFAS in 2016, a constructive dialogue has now been established with representatives of this country. Bishkek also takes part in the work of the Working Group as an observer, entering into discussions on all issues on the agenda.

It should be noted that the launch of a new format of multilateral dialogue, the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia, has become a significant factor in enhancing interaction within the framework of IFAS.

It is also symbolic that the regular 5th Anniversary Consultative Meeting of Heads of State is combined with the IFAS summit, which once again demonstrates how much attention the leaders of the countries of the region pay to environmental problems and, in particular, to overcome the consequences of the Aral Sea crisis.

It is expected that the results of the IFAS summit will make it possible to build a completely new line of relations between the countries-founders of the Fund, lay a solid foundation for improving the activities of the organization.

An important role in the activities of IFAS, of course, is played by international partners who provide all kinds of support, and actively participate in the process of its improvement.

Among them are such authoritative organizations as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), etc.

IFAS has been an observer at the UN since 2008. Thanks to the efforts of all the founding countries of the Fund, in 2018 the UN General Assembly resolution "Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea" was adopted, and in 2021 a resolution declaring the Aral Sea region "a zone of environmental innovations and technologies" was unanimously approved. In May 2023, the resolution of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) “Consideration of conditions for the creation of a special UN program of Nations for the Aral Sea basin” was adopted.

These documents gave a significant impetus to the further development and enhancement of the effectiveness of the Organization. All founding countries today are very optimistic about the new prospects for IFAS, which, as a result of the process of improvement, will strengthen its positions in all areas and will serve the environmental sustainability of Central Asia and the well-being of all the peoples of the region.

International Institute of Central Asia Head of Department Nozim Khasanov