The President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, addressed a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Founding Members of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) in Astana on 22 April. This was reported by TDH.

The Head of State described the rescue of the Aral Sea as a matter of political and moral responsibility for all countries in the region and called for these tasks not to be allowed to take a back seat.

The President of Turkmenistan recalled Turkmenistan’s role during its chairmanship of the IFAS in 2017–2019. At that time, on Ashgabat’s initiative, two UN General Assembly resolutions on cooperation with the IFAS were adopted, a draft UN Special Programme for the Aral Sea Basin countries was presented, and the fourth phase of the Programme of Action to assist the Aral Sea Basin countries was developed. The President also announced that the UN Regional Centre for Climate Technologies would soon begin operations in Ashgabat.

The Head of State proposed three steps. The first is to harmonise national approaches to environmental challenges and strengthen the coordinating role of the IFAS. The second is to accelerate the modernisation of the Fund’s legal framework in order to more actively engage international financial institutions and donors. The third is to jointly draft a new UN General Assembly resolution on IFAS’s cooperation with the UN, taking into account current geopolitical and economic realities.

In conclusion, the President congratulated the Head of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on assuming the chairmanship of IFAS and thanked Kazakhstan for hosting the meeting.