ASTANA – The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) approved the work plan for the period of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in 2024-2026 during the Sept. 18 meeting of the IFAS board, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.
The dried-up Aral Sea. Photo credit: kazaral.org. Click to see the map in full size. The map is designed by The Astana Times.
“IFAS has become a powerful collective tool of regional cooperation capable of influencing the socio-economic well-being in Central Asia. Owing to close cooperation within the IFAS and the political will of the heads of state, the fund has managed to consolidate the efforts of our countries in solving broad problems related to the Aral crisis. I am convinced that the current meeting of the board will give additional impetus to the efforts of our countries,” said Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev, welcoming the meeting participants.
The plan, which consists of ten areas and over 40 activities, calls for carrying out the instructions of the Presidents of the founding states and the President of IFAS, enhancing the fund’s organizational structure and legal framework, fostering and expanding international cooperation, coordinating the work of the structural divisions of the IFAS executive committee, and providing information, analysis and educational work on the protection of natural resources. The document also includes organizing, holding and participating in regional and international events.
The plan also focuses on implementing two large-scale projects: the Action Program to assist the countries of the Aral Sea basin and the Regional Program for Environmental Protection for Sustainable Development in Central Asia. Also, the fund intends to facilitate the work of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination, which includes Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and the IFAS Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development.
Delegations from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan attended the meeting.
Kazakhstan took over the chairmanship of the IFAS on Jan. 1.
