On 22 April 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection of Turkmenistan in assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Committee for Water Management of Turkmenistan held a “Multilateral Dialogue on the Promotion of Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin” dedicated to the International Mother Earth Day.
The event was held via videoconferencing, informs the web-site of the MFA of Turkmenistan.The meeting was attended by the heads and representatives of relevant ministries and departments, Parliament (Mejlis) of the National Council of Turkmenistan, profile institutions of higher education and non-governmental organizations of the country, as well as the respected international and regional organizations that collaborate with Turkmenistan in the area of environment protection.
The Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan, UNICEF Representative in Turkmenistan Christine Weigand, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea Husiddin Sharofitdinov, Permanent Representative of the UN Development Programme Office in Turkmenistan Natia Natsvlishvili, Executive Director of the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia Zafar Makhmudov, Representative of the FAO Sub-regional Office for Central Asia Cumiter Broca, as well as the Head of the GIZ Regional Programme “Green Central Asia” Doctor Caroline Milow gave speeches at the event.
During the presentations, the efforts and initiatives carried out by Turkmenistan in the resolution of issues on preserving the Aral Sea and the betterment of the socio-economic condition of the population of the Aral Sea basin, as well as the opportunities for the development of cooperation on protecting the ecological wellbeing of the region were touched upon.