Almaty hosts a seminar for national coordinators on the UNCCD.
Within the framework of two-day seminar, August 27-28 in the CAREC office (Almaty) passes a training workshop on capacity building of Central Asian National Coordinators on United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Representatives from: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will discuss achievements and challenges in realization of UNCCD.
“This seminar provides an opportunity for CA countries to find out issues of common interests. Besides this, these countries can make a strong voice in the global negotiations that will take place under the conference of the parties in Ankara, later, this year. UNEP together with its partners, including CAREC and the certification of convention, a secretariat, used to provide a platform, platform for countries where they can sit together and prepare for the conference of the parties”,- said Barbara Ruis, representative of UNEP Regional Office for Europe, Division of Environmental Law and Conventions.
According to executive director of CAREC Iskandar Abdullaev, with this international convention to combat desertification, regional center cooperating for a long time. Thus, in 2014, CAREC was determined as organization, which prepares reports on regional processes of desertification in the region of Central Asia, successfully executing these tasks and identifying areas for cooperation under the Convention. “Our role as regional organization - facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of desertification. This is an extremely serious issue. For example, in our region every year, about 60 000 ha of land coming out of agricultural turnover, namely transformed into a desert, salt marshes, but the population is growing every year. According to some research, in the countries that border with our region, there will be decreasing the number of people, but the region of Central Asia has just the opposite trend - the population will increase. People therefore in their turn, in need with food, water, and if we annually incapacitating 60,000 ha of land and do not introduce back into use a single hectare, so how to feed the people? We must stop the process of land degradation. That is why this meeting is very important, it will help to find ways of solving this problem.” – stressed Abdullaev.
CAREC supports such activities, by providing intellectual and logistical assistance. On August 28 in the framework of the seminar, representatives of CAREC will submit a presentation and introduce proposals for the development of a regional center’s role in this matter.
“Among the issues of the seminar - the role of national coordinators in the implementation of the Convention in our countries, issues on accountability of national and regional projects. Now, every 2 years, countries must report on CCD, what is done”, - said Muhammed Durikov, acting director of the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna of the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan, national coordinator of the Convention.
It is known that CAREC works very closely with the Convention and helps to improve the process of communication between all project participants that the main objective was achieved.
