DUSHANBE, July 10, Asia-Plus — President Emomali Rahmon today met with visiting UN Secretary General”s Special Representative also Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia (UNRCCA), Mr. Miroslav Jenca.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with President Rahmon, Mr. Jenca said the he highly appraised President Rahmon’s position on problems of rational use of water and energy resources in the region. “Each state has the right of rational use of water resources on the ground of norms of international law,” he said.
Mr. Jenca said the UNRCCA would organize a ministerial meeting in Ashgabat on July 16 on issues related to implementation of agreements reached during the Central Asian summit on the Aral Sea problems that was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in the past spring. Water economy ministers from Central Asia’s states as well as representatives of UNDP, the European Union and managers of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) will attend the meeting.
“In October this year, we plan to organize a high-level meeting on water use problems in Dushanbe and representatives of all Central Asian countries will be invited to attend this meeting,” he said.
The UN Secretary General”s Special Representative noted that they had also considered issues related to providing security and stability in the region, fight against international terrorism and illicit drug trafficking as well the present situation in Afghanistan.
UNRCCA was established by the UN in 2007 to help the countries of the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – respond more proactively to cross-border challenges and threats, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and environmental degradation, before they become costlier and more difficult to control. It works closely with the existing UN programs and agencies operating in Central Asia, as well as with regional groups such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
